UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION 

WASHINGTON 


INFORMATION 

CONCERNING 

TUNGSTEN-BEARING 

ORES 


PRINTED FOR USE OF 

COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1919 







UNITED STATES, TARIFF COMMISSION, 

" WASHINGTON 


INFORMATION 


CONCERNING 

TUNGSTEN-BEARING 

ORES 


PRINTED FOR USE OF 

COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1919 






UNITED STATES TABIFF COMMISSION. 
Office; 1322 New York Avenue, Washington, D. C. 

COMMISSIONERS. 

F. W. Taussig, Chairman. William Kent, 

Thomas Wal&r Page, Vice Chairman. William S. Culbertson. 
David J. Lewis. Edward P. Costigan, 

William M. Steuart, Seareiary. 


2 


n, of 4». 

AOQ 20 1919 



CONTENTS 





6 

Or- 


Page. 

I-etter of transmittal. 5 

Introductory statement. 7 

I. Summary: 

Description. 9 

Uses. 9 

Domestic production— 

Quantity. 9 

JMining methods. 9 

Concentration. 10 

Equipment. 10 

Organization. 10 

Localities of production. 10 

Domestic production and domestic consumption. 10 

Domestic exports. 11 

Foreign production— 

Countries of largest production. 11 

Tungsten industry in foreign countries. 11 

Imports. 11 

Prices. 12 

Tariff history. 13 

Tariffs in foreign countries. 13 

Tariff questions involved. 13 

United States Tariff Commission conferences, 1918. 14 

Summary table. 15 

II. General information: 

Description. 16 

History. 17 

Uses. 18 

Substitutes. 19 

Mining methods. 19 

Concentration or milling. 20 

Countries of largest production. 21 

World’s production of tungsten ore (table). 22 

Domestic production and resources. 22 

Foreign production and resources. 26 

Costs. 30 

Markets and marketing. 31 

Domestic production and prices. 32 

Domestic consumption and sources of supply. 36 

Imports. 37 

Exports. 39 

Rates of duty._. 39 

Court and Treasury decisions. 39 

III. Competitive conditions. 40 

IV. Miscellaneous: 

Reduction of tungsten ore. 42 

Opinions of producers. 42 

. Trade relations and the tungsten industry. 44 

Mining labor conditions in Portugal. 46 

Bibliography. 47 

Associations, establishments, importers, etc. 47 


3 
































































i 


LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 


United States Tariff Commission, 

Washingtonj June 14) 1919, 

The Committee on Ways and MeanSy House of Representatives: 

I have the honor to transmit herewith, in accordance with jour 
request, information compiled by the United States Tariff Commis¬ 
sion on tungsten-bearing ores. 

Very respectfully, 

Thomas Walker Page, 

Acting Chairman, 

5 




INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. 


Tungsten mining was an industry that was profoundly affected by 
the war. In June, 1918, two conferences were held by the United 
vStates Tariff Commission—one in Dencer and one in San Francisco— 
at which the producers, consumers, and importers of the ore and metal 
were given an opportunity to present their views as to the permanent 
aspects of the industry. 

The domestic production of tungsten-bearing ore increased under 
the stress of war necessity to nearly five times the output before the 
war. The signing of the armistice found large accumulations of 
ore and ferro-tungsten in this and foreign countries; and the closing 
of munition plants,which had been the largest consumers of tungsten 
steel, caused a temporary reduction in the demand for tungsten 
products. The result of these circumstances was a chaotic condition 
of the market which was aggravated by heavy importations of foreign 
ore released from licensing regulations. 

Tungsten mines throughout the United ^States have been closed 
down and domestic production is at a standstill; but the influx of 
foreign supplies has continued unabated and has inhibited readjust¬ 
ment of the American industry to a peace basis. Consumption is 
becoming adjusted, but prices are at a level that does not permit the 
successful operation of American mines. Reports indicate the dis¬ 
covery of large new supplies of ore in southern China, and that the 
flood of ore from that section is partly present production, and not 
merely a liquidation of stocks accumulated during the war period. 






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TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORESJ 


T. SUMMARY.^ 

DESCRIPTION. 

There are four commercial tungsten minerals, scheelite, ferberite,^ 
huehnerite, and wolframite. Scheelite is the tungstate of lime. The 
other three are frequently grouped together as the wolframite series, 
ranging in composition from ferberite (tungstate of iron) to huehnerite 
(tungstate of manganese). The pure minerals of the wolframite series 
contain over 76 per cent tungsten trioxide (WO 3 ). Scheelite con¬ 
tains about 80 per cent WO 3 . The tungsten ore of commerce, how¬ 
ever, contams a certain amount of non tungsten bearing material in 
addition to one or more of the above minerals. The standard ore 
contains 60 per cent WO 3 and this tenor is usually obtained by 
concentration of low-grade ore. 


USES. 

Practically all the tungsten ore now produced in the world is used 
in the making of tungsten metal or ferrotungsten. Various salts of 
tungsten have been employed in the dye industries, but have been 
almost wholly replaced by cheaper chemicals. Over 95 per cent of 
the tungsten production goes into the making of tungsten steel, which 
is in general use for high-speed cutting tools, permanent magnets, and 
saw blades. A small amount of very pure tungsten is consumed in 
the making of filaments for incandescent electric lights. 

DOMESTIC PRODUCTION. 

Quantity .—^The maximum domestic production of tungsten ore^ 
expressed in terms of concentrates containing 60 per cent WO 3 , was 
5,900 short tons, in 1916. The 1917 output was 4,633 short tons. The 
valuations for the respective yearn were $24,780,000 and $5,932,000. 
Preliminary reports indicate that the 1918 output was 5,046 short 
tons. 

Mining methods .—Some tungsten is obtained by placer mining, 
especially m foreign countries. Most of the domestic production 
is obtained from lode deposits. In new districts the ore may often 
be picked up on the surface of the ground or gouged out from shal¬ 
low open workings. Such cheaply obtained material is largely ex¬ 
hausted in the United States and most of the domestic production ^ 
now comes from underground workings. These are of two types, 
which may be designated narrow or wide. The narrow deposits are 
typified by the stringer lodes of Boulder County, Colo. The lodes 
of the Southwest are usually wider and can be worked on a larger 
scale. 


1 This first section, under “ Summary,” is to be regarded merely as a condensed abstract of what follows 
under ‘General Information” in later section. 


128894—19-2 


9 




10 UNITED STATES TAKIFF COMMISSION KEPORT. 

Concentration. —The mechanical treatment of low-grade tungsten ore 
has reached its highest development in the United States. American 
mills are better equipped than those in foreign countries and obtain a 
more nearly complete extraction of the values. Tungsten ore has a 
strong tendency to slime. This tendency is minimized by stage re¬ 
duction and improved machinery for the recovery of line material. 

Equipment. —In the early stages of production practically no equip¬ 
ment is required, as the work consists largely of coUectmg the ore and 
hand sorting; but when deep mining beghis, power plants, pumps, 
hoists, air compressors, and other machinery must be installed and 
considerable capital expended in development work. The treatment 
of a large tonnage of low-grade material requires expensive crushing 
and concentrating machinery. 

Organization. —The tungsten industry is characterized by a large 
number of small independent producers with only a few well-financed 
companies. A considerable number of the stronger operators have 
connections with manufacturers or consumers of tungsten metal and 
ore. The Atolia Mining Co. of California ^ is the largest producer in 
the United States, and its output constitutes over 30 per cent of the 
total domestic product. Full}^ 75 per cent of the tungsten mined in 
the United States is taken out by four large companies, the Atolia in 
California and the Primes Chemical Co., the Wolf Tongue M. & M. 
Co., and the Tungsten Products Co., in Boulder County, Colo. The 
remaining 25 per cent comes from a large and constantly shifting 
group of small operators. 

Localities of production. —Tungsten deposits are actively exploited 
in the Mojave Desert and at Bishop, Calif.; in Boulder County 
and Silverton, Colo.; in various counties in Nevada; in Arizona; 
and in the Black Hills of South Dakota. A sporadic production 
has come from sections in the above States other than those specifi¬ 
cally mentioned and from Idaho, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, 
Utah, Missouri, and Connecticut. In the last few years California 
and Colorado have contributed approximately 90 per cent of the 
total output of the United States and in about equal proportions. 
The Atolia district in the Mojave Desert is the largest producer of 
;scheelite in the world. 

Domestic ptroduction and domestic consumption. —The domestic pro¬ 
duction of tungsten ore fuiuished less than 50 per cent of the domes¬ 
tic requirements in 1917 and a probably still smaller percentage in 
1918. Previous to the Great War about 75 per cent of the domestic 
supply came from American mines, but the consumption has increased 
more rapidly than the production. 

The ratio of the consumption to the production of tungsten ore is 
not strictly an index of the tungsten requirements of the country. 
The imports and exports of tungsten powder and ferrotungsten must 
also be considered. In the prewar period some tungsten was im¬ 
ported in the form of ferro-alloy; but smce 1914 practically aU the 
imports have been of ore. In 1917 the United States exported 
large amounts of ferrotungsten and tungsten powder. The actual 
ratio of consumption to the production of tungsten metal has, there¬ 
fore, not increased quite so rapidly as has that of the ore; neverthe¬ 
less, a less proportion of the total tungsten actually used for the 


1 Not connected with tungsten manufacturers. 





TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 


11 


making of finished steel and other products (ultimate tungsten con¬ 
sumption) is now produced in this country than in the years preced¬ 
ing the war. 

Domestic exports. —Very little of the United States production of 
tungsten ore has ever been exported. A small amount was shipped to 
Germany in 1910 to 1914. No records are available as to the exact 
amount, but it was never large. In the last year or two there has 
been some export of ferrotungsten, especially to Italy, but the con¬ 
tinuance of these exports is not dependent on domestic production 
of ore as this metal could be, and probably to a large extent is, 
reduced from imported ore. 

FOREIGN PRODUCTION. 

Countries of largest production. —Burma (including the Shan 
States) is the largest producer of tungsten ore in the world and in 
1917 produced 21.4 per cent of the world output. The United 
States was the second largest and produced 17.1 per cent of the 
total for that year. Bolivia was third with an output equivalent to 
15.8 per cent. In 1917, 41.8 per cent of the world supply was drawn 
from Asia; 22.2 per cent from South America; 18.4 per cent from 
North America; 11.3 per cent from Europe, and 6.3 per cent from 
Australia and New Zealand. Africa produced only a negligible 
amount. These figures indicate, as experience has shown, that 
tungsten is widely distributed over the earth’s crust, but in no 
place is it found in very great amounts. 

Tungsten industry in foreign countries. —Most of the Asiatic supply 
comes from surface deposits. Broadly speaking, especially in Burma 
and contiguous territory, the cream of this easily gathered material 
has been skimmed as evidenced by increased costs in spite of the 
cheap labor employed. The only exceptions are certain sections 
of China and Korea. The Bolivian production comes chiefly from 
deep mines where it is found associated with tin. 

In general, the costs of foreign production—even including freight 
to the United States—are lower than the costs of production in the 
United States. This is due not only to cheaper labor but also to the 
fact that a larger proportion of foreign ore comes from near the 
surface. 


IMPORTS. 

From 30 to 50 per cent of the United States supply of tungsten 
ore is imported. In general the foreign ore is not so free from objec¬ 
tionable impurities as is the American product, and, therefore, sells 
at a discount from the American quotations. Some of the iinported 
ore, however, compares favorably in regard to purity with the 
domestic. As a rule, it has a higher tungsten content, frequently 
running up to 65 or 70 per cent. Ore containing as little as 50 per 
cent WO 3 is imported, but the average grade of imported ore is in 
the neighborhood of 60 per cent. 

Germany was the trading center of the tungsten industry before 
the war and most of the prewar imports of the United States were 
shipped from Germany. Only a fraction of those imports originated 
in Germany but represented a German brokerage business. When 


12 UNITED STATES TAEIFF COMMISSION EFFORT. 

♦ 

Germany was cut off from world communication, imports came 
direct from the countries of origin, especially from South America 
and Asia. Another feature of the shortening of the routing of 
imports was the practical cessation of the importation of tungsten 
metal and ferrotungsten. The tungsten supply of the United States 
is now derived almost exclusively from ore, whereas German-made 
ferro-alloy formerly represented an important fraction of the im¬ 
ported supply. 

There are no tungsten reduction plants on the Pacific slope so 
the ultimate destination of ore is along the Atlantic seaboard. Due 
to the transfer of sources of supply from Europe to South America 
and Asia, an increasing amount of material has arrived at Pacific 
ports. The transcontinental freight ($42.50 a ton in 1918) to the 
Eastern States is not a very large item as compared to the cost of 
so expensive a commodity (valued at $1,000 to $1,500 a ton), and it 
is partially offset by nearness of centers of consumption of the 
ferro-alloy. 

Revenue .—The maximum revenue collected in the form of duties 
on tungsten ores was less than $39,000. This was in 1913 ^ under 
a tariff of 10 per cent ad valorem. Since tungsten ore has been 
imported free of duty during the war period, the imports have 
furnished no revenue, although their value in 1917 ^ was nearly 

13 times as great as in 1913.^ 

PRICES. 

The price of tungsten ore is quoted in the United States in terms 
of the value of a short ton unit (20 pounds) of tungsten trioxide 
(W.O3) and based on material containing 60 per cent WO3 and no 
objectionable impurities. Unless otherwise specified, the quota¬ 
tion is for wolframite. Scheelite and ferberite are worth a little 
more and huebnerite a little less than wolframite in concentrates 
of the same tungsten tenor. A small premium is paid for ore of 
higher grade than 60 per cent and there is a discount off the unit 
price for lower grade material. 

The price history of tungsten is characterized by extreme fluctua¬ 
tions. There was a general advance in price from about $2 a unit 
in 1900 to a little more than $7 a unit in 1914. In the winter of 
1915-16 there was a ‘'boom” in tungsten. The price soared to 
over $90 a unit in a period of about six months. Then followed 
a spectacular fall to $25 and later $18 all mthin less than three 
months. Since September 1916, the price has remained in the range 
$18 to $26, averaging about $22 a unit. 

The chief factor regulating price in the United States has been 
the amount and convenience 01 importation. 

The British Government fixed a price of 55 s. ($13,365) per long 
ton unit (22.4 pounds) early in the war. This was later raised to 
60s. ($14.60). These prices are considerably lower than those obtain¬ 
ing in all other markets and are maintained only by embargoes on 
shipments from British ports. The present price of 60s. corres¬ 
ponds to $13.04 a short ton unit and is based on a 65 per cent WO 3 
content instead of 60 per cent as in the United States. 


1 Fiscal years 









TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 


13 


TARIFF HISTORY. 

Tungsten ores and concentrates are admitted free of duty under 
paragraph 633 of the act of 1913. Previous to the act of 1909, 
tungsten ores were not specifically mentioned in the tariff law and 
were held to be exempt from duty as a crude mineral. The act of 
1909 specifically mentioned tungsten ores and imposed a duty of 10 
per cent ad valorem. Following the complete removal of the duty, 
m 1913, the imports fell off 50 per cent. Other factors in the in¬ 
dustry were more important at that time, and it was not until 1916 
that foreign ore poured into the United States and again became a 
serious competitive factor in the market. 

TARIFFS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 

/ 

Tungsten ore is not specifically mentioned in the tariff laws of 
any European countries or Canada.^ It therefore comes under the 
blanket clauses covering metallic ores of all kinds which are generally 
admitted free of duty. Export tariffs are levied on tungsten ore in 
Portugal and many of the South American countries. This tax in 
Portugal is $1.07 a unit and in Bolivia about $0.13 per long-ton unit, 
plus one-tenth of 1 per cent ad valorem. 

TARIFF QUESTIONS INVOLVED. 

The tungsten production of the United States has suffered a re¬ 
lapse from the greatly expanded output of the war period. The 
cheap, easily mined resom^ces of this material are practically ex¬ 
hausted, and a continuation of production depends upon the develop¬ 
ment of underground operations which require a considerable invest¬ 
ment of capital. While it has not yet been fully demonstrated that 
the domestic deposits can long continue a large production, the data 
that are available indicate that they can furnish a substantial amount 
for some time. The demand for tungsten is not purely a war condi¬ 
tion. The effect of the war was merely to emphasize the necessity 
for tungsten steel tools as a factor in industrial efficiency. Only a 
very serious and general business depression would cause a serious 
slackening in the consumption of tungsten. 

The investment of the capital necessary to equip and develop 
tungsten mines in the Unitecl States is hindered by a serious doubt 
as to whether the present, or in fact any, stabilized price will be 
maintained. There are producers in the United States that can 
market tungsten at $10 a unit, but an important part of the present 

E reduction comes from mines where such low costs are impossible 
ecause of the erratic character or low grade of the deposits. At 
the tungsten conferences held by this commission in Denver and 
San Francisco in June, 1918, the most important feature of the entire 
situation was stated by all producers to be the necessity of a stable 
price high enough to meet the costs of operating mines of the less 
favored group. 


1 Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Austria-Hungary, and Germany, 
Kelly’s Customs Tariffs of the Worla, 1918;. 




14 


UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. 


A large part of the foreign production comes from comparatively 
new fields of high-grade ore that requires only to be picked off the 
ground. This condition existed in the United States up to about 
1915, and the cost of production was less than $7 a unit even under 
the high wage scale obtaining in this country as compared to that in 
many foreign countries. Similar deposits in foreign countries can 
be expected to reach the same’ condition eventually, but for a time 
they are able to supply tungsten c. i. f. American ports at consider¬ 
ably lower figures than the American mines. 

A considerable duty on tungsten ore would encoiu’age the invest¬ 
ment of capital in tungsten mining and a continuance of production 
from American mines. Under the present free importation of tung¬ 
sten ore the domestic production will remain dormant and can not be 
expected to recover until the deposits of foreign countries are 
depleted to at least the same extent as those in the United States. 
The world price will then rise to above the cost of production in 
the United States and the American deposits can be worked. An 
important result of a duty would be the development of the 
comparatively low-grade, but probably extensive, deposits of the 
Southwest. 

The domestic production can not be expected to indefinitely 
supply the domestic needs. It .must be supplemented by imported 
ore. 

The export trade in ferrotungsten and tungsten metal would not 
of necessity be affected by a duty on the ore, since the reduction of 
South American and Asiatic ore could be conducted in bond, just 
as the smelting-in-bond business is conducted on ores of lead and zinc. 

Another factor that must not be lost sight of is the necessity of 
placing a compensatory duty on imports of tungsten metal, powder, 
and smts, ferrotungsten, high-speed steel, and other tungsten prod¬ 
ucts, in case a duty be placed upon the ore. Under the act of 1913 
these products are dutiable, but the duties were adjusted on the basis 
of the free entry of the raw material, i. e., with tungsten-bearing ore 
on the free list. 

U. S. TARIFF COMMISSION CONFERENCES, 1918. 

[Digest of opinions,] 

The salient feature brought out in every brief and verbal statement 
submitted in the conferences at Denver and San Francisco in June, 
1918, was the anxiety of producers as regards price. The develop¬ 
ment of properties, the exploitation of new mines, the erection of 
concentrating mills, and in fact all the requisites for the continuance 
of production of tungsten ore are handicapped by the real doubt 
in the minds of those able to furnish the necessary capital to do these 
things, whether or not an adequate price can be maintained after 
the war. The present widespread consumption of tungsten is not 
going to decrease, but will increase. The United States has a suffi¬ 
cient supply to meet its requirements for many years to come. 
Although many, even most, of the producers—real and potential— 
can not compete with the foreign production from surface deposits, 
they claim to be able to put tungsten ore on the market in adequate 
amounts at a reasonable price which will not handicap the consumers 


TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 


15 


of their product, provided they are assured of this reasonable price (by 
protection, either through tariff or other means) for a number of 
years. ' 

Tungsten is a vital necessity to the country in war and peace. The 
cheap sources of supply are rapidly disappearing in all parts of the 
world, and it may eventually become necessary to supply all our needs 
from domestic mines. It was claimed that if the domestic produc¬ 
ers are not protected from foreign supplies that are likely to flood the 
country as soon as embargoes and other war limitations to shipping 
are removed, many of them would be forced to shut down their prop¬ 
erties and allow them to deteriorate to such an extent that resump¬ 
tion of production would be difficult in the extreme.^ 

The census of Colorado producers revealed the general sentiment 
that a maintenance of present production could not be assured at a 
lower price than $30 to $40 a unit. The California and Nevada 
sentiment was not so extravagant and indicates the greater dependa¬ 
bility of the industry in that section. A price of $28 to $30 was 
generally desired, but there was a strong undercurrent of sentiment 
that a positively stabilized price of at least $25 a unit would effect 
the expansion of the industry in the Southwest. 


Summary Table. 


Calendar 

year. 

Domes¬ 
tic pro¬ 
duction 
(long 
tons).2 

Imports 
for con¬ 
sumption 
(long 
tons).3 

Domestic 

exports. 

Ratio to 
produc¬ 
tion: 
Imports 
(per 
cent). 

Value 
(imports 
for con¬ 
sumption). 

Amoimt 
of dut5^. 

Value 

per 

unit of 
quantity 
per long 
ton. 

Equiva¬ 
lent ad 
valorem 
rate 
(per 
cent). 

iQin 

1,626 

1,017 

1,187 

(n 

(^) 

736 

(^) 

(6) 

(6) 

(&) 

None. 


6$178,174.00 
85,887.00 

6$17,817.40 
8,588.70 
36,, 242.20 


10.00 

1Q11 



10.00 

1912. 

62.04 

362,422.00 

$492.20 

10.00 

1913. 

l'372 

401 

29.23 

213,122.00 

713,869.60 

531.70 

10.00 

1Q14 

884 
2,082 
. 5,268 

4 137 

267 

30.20 

130,687.00 

Free. 

523.20 


1Q1 

1,370 
3,547 
4,354 
10,491 

None. 

65.80 

1,044,986.00 

7,353,691.00 

Free. 

762.80 


IQIfi 

None. 

67.33 

Free. 

2,074.20 


1Q17 

None. 

105.24 

4,465,590.00 

Free. 

1,025.60 


1Q1S 

A, 505 

None. 

232. 87 

11'552'218.00 

Free. 

1,101.16 






1 This prophesy has since been fulfilled. 

2 Calculated into e juivalent tons of 60 per cent WO3. 

3 Not corrected. No data as to equivalent tons of 60 per cent WO 
* Weights not recorded prior to July 1,1911. 

6 No statistics. 

6 Six months ending Dec. 31,1910. 

^ Duty from Jan. 1 to Oct. 3,1913, under act of 1909. 








































II. GENERAL INFORMATION. 


DESCRIPTION. 

Tungsten metal is never found native but occurs in nature only in 
the form of tungstates of iron, manganese, or calcium. The minerals 
are most often found in acid rocks (cf. granite or rhyolite), especially 
in pegmatite dikes. Except in the United States, it is usually 
accompanied by tin ore in veins or placer deposits resulting from the 
erosion of lode formations and from the concentration in stream beds 
of the heavier constituents of country rock. 

Wolframite or iron-manganese tungstate, (FeMn) WO 4 , is the most 
common ore of tungsten. It occurs in long, dark-brown to black 
crystals or short columnar masses, with a dark brown streak. The 
hardness is about 5, or a little less than that of steel. It generally 
contains approximately 76.4 per cent of tungsten trioxide (WO 3 ), 
but, as the name is used to include all variation in composition from 
pure iron tungstate (ferberite) and pure manganese tungstate (hueb- 
nerite), the tungsten content varies slightly as does the specific 
gravity between the values for the respective components.^ 

Ferherite or iron tungstate, FeW 04 , is a dull coal-black mineral, 
sometimes occurring in aggregates of cubic crystals, but more often 
massive as black sooty material in veins in pegmatite. After 
exposure to the action of the weather, ferberite is often so impreg¬ 
nated with iron oxide as to appear brown even along a fracture surface. 
The specific gravity is 7.5 and the hardness 5. Ferberite is the com¬ 
mon ore in Boulder County, Colo., but has not been found in com¬ 
mercial quantities in other parts of the world. It is valuable ore in 
that district, and the pure mineral contains 76.3 per cent tungsten 
trioxide. 

Huehnerite (hubnerite) or manganese tungstate, MnW 04 ,is a reddish 
brown mineral of about the same hardness as ferberite. The specific 
gravity is about 7.2, or a little less than that of the iron mineral. It 
is found typically in needle-like crystals in quartz. The theoretical 
content of tungsten trioxide is 76.6 per cent. The appearance of 
huebnerite, like that of ferberite, is likely to be obscured by the action 
of weathering, and the mineral in surface exposures is generally coated 
with black oxide of manganese or brown iron oxide. 

ScJieelite or calcium (lime) tungstate, CaW 04 , is a totally different 
mineral from the wolframite series. The color varies from nearly 
pure white to yellow or gray, but always light. Scheelite has not the 
metallic appearance of the wolframite series and most other metallic 
minerals out has a stony look more like quartz feldspar or marble. 
It is best distinguished from gangue minerals by its greater specific 
gravity (about 6 ) and it has a greasy luster that is very characteristic, 


* The following ciassiPcation suggested by F. L. Hess of the U. S. Geological Sun ey has been adopted 
by some writers and deserves wider recognition; Ferberite, iron tungstate with not more than 20 per cent 
of manganese tungstate; huebnerite, manganese tungstate with not more than 20 per cent of iron tungstate; 
w’olfi-amite, all mixtures iron tungstate and manganese tungstate between the above limits. 

16 



TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 


17 


especially on a freshly broken surface. Scheelite is a little softer 
than the minerals of the wolframite group (hardness about 4 . 5 ) but 
is harder than calcite. Pure scheelite contains 80.6 per cent tung¬ 
sten trioxide (WO3), the highest content of all tungsten minerals. 

The value of all tungsten ore depends on its contents of tungsten. 
This is invariably expressed in terms of tungsten trioxide WO 3 ) or 
tungstic acid (as it is generally, though erroneously, called). The ore 
as mined rarely contains more than a very small WO 3 content and 
requires to be concentrated before it can be utilized as a commercial 
product. The standard ‘‘ore” is therefore a concentrated product 
containing approximately 60 per cent tungstic acid. Quotations 
are given in terms of dollars per unit. The “unit” is 1 per cent in a 
ton of total material, and represents either 20 pounds or 22.4 pounds 
of the valuable constituent, depending upon whether the short ton 
or long ton is referred to. 

HISTORY. 

The tungsten mineral wolframite was known in the tin mines of 
Saxony-Bohemia region, and later in Cornwall, long before the ele¬ 
ment tungsten itself was discovered. 

In 1781 the Swedish chemist Scheele discovered a new mineral 
acid; the stony mineral discovered later was named scheelite in his 
honor, while the element he discovered was afterwards named tungsten 
from the two Swedish words “tung,” heavy, and “sten,” stone. In 
Great Britain and its Provinces the word “wolfram” has been com¬ 
pelled to do duty for both mineral and metal, but there is now a 
distinct trend to the better usage of calling the metal tungsten and 
the mineral wolframite. 

In 1785 the D'Elhujar brothers found that wolframite also con-’ 
tained tungsten and established the relation of scheelite to wolframite. 
They also succeeded in obtaining metallic tungsten from the oxide 
and were probably the first to reduce the metal from its compounds.‘ 

The valuable properties imparted to steel by the addition of tung¬ 
sten were recognized about 1855 and in 1857 a steel maker named 
Mushet took out the first patent in England for its use. A few years 
later the manufacture of a 25 per cent alloy was begun in Germany. 
This early ferrotungsten was made in crucibles on a very small scale 
and was very impure. The use of tungsten on any large scale in the 
making of alloy steel was insignificant until the twentieth century. 
Small amounts of ore were made into chemicals but tungsten and its 
ores were very unimportant commodities. 

The first lot of domestic ore known to have been produced and sold 
in the United States was in 1900. The price was then about $2 a unit.. 
Since 1901 the growth of the tungsten industry has been fairly rapid. 
Germany was the chief market for ore and a large part of the world 
output was shipped there, to be reduced to metal or ferroalloy or 
exported to other countries. 

The history of the mining of tungsten in every country shows a 
marked similarity. Although the occurrence of tungsten is wide¬ 
spread, the individual deposits are never of large extent. They are 
usually pockety. The ore comes in lenticular shoots, and masses in 

1 From Bulletin 652. Tungsten Minerals and Deposits, U. S. Geological Survey. 

128894—19-3 





18 


UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. 


veins or irregularly distributed along contacts. When a new dis¬ 
trict is first discovered a great deal of float ore may often be found. 
Later the surface ore is gophered out. Up to this stage the tungsten 
ore is easily and quickly mined, and the production is large and low 
costs prevail. Then follows the period of searching for ore under¬ 
ground. This is a different problem. The geology of tungsten de¬ 
posits is not well understood. Underground prospecting is difficult. 
The ‘Teads’’ are hard to follow, and, almost invariably, a large 
amount of deadwork needs to be done before a new shoot is found. 
After drifting along a narrow vein or crosscutting through barren 
rock, it often happens that even if more ore is discovered, its value is 
insufficient to pay, in addition to the cost of its extraction, the heavy 
cost of looking for it. This is the period of depression. Temporary 
excitement or a ^ffioom’’ like that which swept over Colorado and 
the whole world in 1916 when the price soared to record heights, may 
bring about a greater production, but this is mostly obtained from 
extremely low-grade material and at high cost. Very few, if any, 
districts have emerged from the stages of unprofitable underground 
prospecting and development to the establishment of a permanent, 
profitable producing stage. Tungsten has the reputation of ‘Splay¬ 
ing ouC^ at depth. The character of the ore is such as to preclude 
this possibility and tungsten is no more likely to pinch out vertically 
than horizontally, but as the depth increases the pockets are harder 
and more expensive to find. 


USES. 

At least 95 per cent of all the tungsten ores produced at the 
present time go into the manufacture of tungsten powder, ferro- 
tungsten, and tungsten steel for the making of high-speed tool 
steels. The addition of tungsten to steel gives it the property of 
holding its temper at a much higher heat than that at which simple 
carbon steels, and most other alloy steels, become soft and worth¬ 
less. This property of red hardness, as it is called, is very important 
in cutting tools, as it allows speeding up the work to five or six 
times the cutting speed allowable with simple carbon steel tools. 
The strength and comparative toughness of tungsten-steel lathe 
tools, even when very hot permits taking a very heavy cut or shav¬ 
ing off the work and the chips often leave the tool so hot that they 
turn blue. The rapid advance in cutting metals and the great 
increase in efficiency in machine shops in late years is in a large 
measure due to the development of tungsten tool steel. 

A new use for tungsten steel is for aeroplane engine valves and 
seats. For several years tungsten steel has been the most satisfac¬ 
tory material for the permanent magnetos (used for telephones 
and internal combustion engine ignition). 

An important use of tungsten ores, though one that consumes 
but a negligible amount, is the making of pure tungsten wire for 
incandescent lamp filaments. A little tungsten goes into electric 
contact points for spark coils, etc. (as a substitute for platinum). 

Steel containing 2 or 3 per cent of tungsten is in general use for 
saw blades. 


TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 


19 


Formerly sodium tungstate and other tungsten-containing chemi- 
€als were used to some extent in weighting silk, mordanting, and 
other purposes but this consumption has practically ceased on 
account of the high cost of tungsten. 

SUBSTITUTES. 

^ No satisfactory substitute for tungsten has been found for alloy¬ 
ing with steel for high-speed cutting tools. Molybdenum has some¬ 
what similar properties, and although it has been used to some 
extent, especially in Europe, it has never proved so satisfactory and 
is now generally used in conjunction with tungsten, replacing only 
a part of the latter. Stellite, an alloy of cobalt and chromium, is 
sometimes used for cutting tools as a substitute for high-speed steel. 
The most satisfactory stellite alloy for cutting, however, contains 
tungsten as a hardening constituent, although molybdenum is also 
employed instead of the tungsten in this alloy. 

The high prices of 1916 stimulated conservation of tungsten, and 
most cutting tools are now made with an ordinary carbon steel 
stock with only a short piece of high-priced tungsten steel welded 
on the end. This practice results in a marked saving in the metal 
and was a large factor in breaking the price. 

Chromium as well as molybdenum has to some extent replaced 
tungsten in the making of magnet steel. ^ 

MINING METHODS. 

Placer tungsten may be worked by any of the usual methods for 
the recovery of gold or tin in placer deposits. Except when asso¬ 
ciated with tin or gold, tungsten is not known to be mined by dredg¬ 
ing, as the deposits are rarely of sufficient extent to warrant the 
cost of erecting so expensive a device. Hand washing in pans or 
sluices is the usual procedure, but in large-scale operations, hydrau- 
licking is done. 

Lode mining does not differ essentially from the mining of other 
ores except that tungsten rarely is found in sufficient amounts or in 
shoots regular enough to permit, of systematic extraction. As a 
rule the valuable material forms a narrow, tight streak in the rock. 
These streaks are usually only a few inches wide; and as a man can 
not work for any length of time in a space less than 18 to 24 inches 
wide, much barren waste must be broken separately to make room. 
Care must be taken to prevent the mixing of this rock with the ore. 
This is often difficult as the tungsten stringers are “frozen’^ tight to 
the walls and, although hard, are easily fractured and lost. To 
further complicate the extraction of tungsten, the country rock and 
vein formation are usually very hard. It is evident that these con¬ 
ditions require a peculiar type of miner and one who has a personal 
interest in saving every possible particle of valuable material. This 
necessity fosters the employment of leasers” (lessees) or ^Hribu- 
ters”—each man, or group of men, working for himself and being 
paid for the ore he gets out—rather than- the usual system of day’s 
pay. 


1 See Tariff Information Catalogue on Ferrotungsten. 



20 


UNITED STATES TAKIEE COMMISSION KEPOKT. 


CONCENTRATION OR MILLING. 

The tendency of all tungsten minerals to slime, coupled with the 
necessity of very fine grinding to separate them from the waste rock, 
complicates their economical recovery in the milling operation. 
Stamps were formerly in common use for the secondary crushing after 
the breaker, but these relics of gold milling are notorious producers of 
slime and material too fine to be recovered effectually by any mechan¬ 
ical process. Stamps have, therefore, disappeared from most of the 
mills and have been replaced by several sets of rolls which succes¬ 
sively reduce the size oi the ore with a minimum of sliming. Only 
a small proportion of tungsten concentrate is recovered by jigging the 
coarse sizes. The bulk of the recovery is on the sand and slime 
tables. The last slime is still run through a ^‘rag plant” (canvas 
tables) at many mills with an economical saving. 

The desideratum of concentration is the production of a concen¬ 
trate containing 60 per cent or more tungsten-trioxide, but the pro¬ 
duction of so high grade a product from the usual ore containing only 
2 to 10 per cent WO3, results in high losses and much waste of tung¬ 
sten. To increase the extraction, many mills make two grades of 
concentrate; a high grade sand concentrate, containing approxi¬ 
mately 60 per cent WO 3 and suitable for making ferrotungsten in the 
electric furnace; and a slime concentrate of lower grade, containing 
about 20 per cent WO3, and suitable only for a chemical process. 

If any heavy minerals besides tungsten are present in the ore, the 
enriched product from simple gravity concentration contains these 
other minerals also and they must be removed, either because they 
lower the grade too much or because they are actually deleterious to 
the product. The usual auxiliary process is magnetic separation and 
the method of its application depends on the character of the material. 
Many foreign ores contain tin as well as sulphide minerals. In the 
United States the chief contaminants of the concentrate are sulphides. 
Iron sulphide can be easily removed by a weak magnet after a light 
roast. Ferberite and even wolframite are slightly magnetic and can 
be picked out by a strong magnet, leaving nonmagnetic sulphides and 
tin as a separate and, frequently, a salable product. 

There has been marked progress in the milling of tungsten ores in 
the last few years, but it is stiU a by no means easy problem to get a 
satisfactory recovery of the minerals in a sufficiently high grade 
product. Extractions of over 80 per cent are reported, but it is 
doubtful if the average mill recovers 70 per cent of the values, and 
this on ore that is fairly high grade as compared to ores of other 
metals. It is not practicable to treat any material with less than 

1 per cent of tungsten oxide, and in most districts ore with less than 

2 per cent is not worth treating. Ore containing 1 per cent of WO3 
may have a theoretical value of over $20 a ton, but it is seldom profit¬ 
able to mill it even when it has been mined and on the dump, whereas 
ores of gold, copper, or lead with a theoretical value of only $2 or 
less per ton are profitably concentrated. The reason is-the high cost 
of the separation. A relatively expensive plant is required and the 
ore must be put through slowly—often rerun—in order to get a fair 
recovery. 

Chemical concentration is rarely resorted to because it is even more 
expensive than the mechanical processes. Its main field is in the 


TUNGSTEN-BEAKING ORES. 


21 


separation of foreign ores containing tin and other impurities and in 
the treatment of low-grade slime concentrate. The usual method ^ 
is to decompose the material by fusing it with soda ash, forming 
sodium tungstate, which can be leached out with hot water. In the 
case of siliceous ores the consumption of soda is prohibitive, but it is 
possible to leave tin and most of the other metal oxides practically 
unattached. The • solution containing the sodium tungstate is' 
treated with muriatic (hydrochloric) acid which precipitates tungstic 
acid (H 2 WO 4 ). The tungstic acid, after ignition to the anhydride 
(or tungsten trioxide, WO3), can be reduced to metal powder by 
means of coal or in a stream of hydrogen. 

COUNTRIES OF LARGEST PRODUCTION. 

Tungsten ore is widely distributed and is found in aU the conti¬ 
nents of the world and in a great number of countries; but no single 
country produces a very great amount and the resources of almost 
every corner of the globe are drawn on to furnish a supply. Burma 
(and the Shan States) is the largest individual producer, and in 1917 
mined 21.4 per cent of the total world output. The United States was 
the next largest producer, furnishing 17.1 per cent, while Bolivia was a 
close third with a production amounting to about 15.8 per cent of the 
world’s total. These three large producers, therefore, accounted for 
only a little more than one-half of the production; the remainder was 
drawn in small amounts from many other countries—especially in 
Asia. In the same year Asiatic countries produced 41.8 per cent of 
the world’s output; South American countries, 22.2; North American 
countries, 18.4 per cent; European countries, 11.3 per cent, and Aus¬ 
tralia and New Zealand, 6.3 per cent. Africa is the only continent 
that does not make an important contribution to the tungsten supply. 
Even Africa, however, reports an annual output. 

The following table shows the world’s production, the United 
States production, and the percentage of the world’s total produced 
by the United States: 


Concentrates 60 'per cent WO 3 . 


Year, 

World’s 

produc¬ 

tion. 

United 

States 

produc¬ 

tion. 

Per cent 
produced 

by 

United 

States. 

1910. 

Short tons. 
7,570 
7,517 
9,654 
8,476 

Short tons. 
1,821 
1,139 

24.06 

19li. 

15.15 

1912. 

i;330 

1,537 

13.78 

1913. 

18.13 

1914. 

7 ; 877 

'990 

12.57 

1915. 

12,328 

23,671 

27,067 

2,332 

5,900 

4,633 

18.92 

1916. 

24.92 

1917. 

17.12 



1 Another commercial chemical method is outlined in the confidential files of the commission. 




















22 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. 


The world’s production of tungsten ore, hy countries, estimated so far as possible in short 
tons of conc£ntraies containing 60 per cent of tungsten trioxide. 


Country. 

Year. 

Year. 

1910 

1911 

1912 

1913 

1914 

1915 

1916 

1917 

11918 

Short 

tons. 

Short 

tons. 

Short 

tons. 

Short 

tons. 

Short 

tons. 

Short 

tons. 

Short 

tons. 

Short 

tons. 

Short 

tons. 

Africa; South Africa. 

(9 

0) 

(9 

(9 

(9 

1 

2 

25 

25 

Asia . 









20,310' 

Rnrma and Sha.n States. 

407 

1,119 

2,095 

1,905 

2,055 

3,010 

4,637 

25,800 

Ghina 






120 

21,500 


Federated Malay States . . 

105 

205 

275 

273 

317 

363 

552 

795 


Freneh Tndn-Ghina (Tnnlcin) 

19 


81 

100 

119 

219 

250 

250 


India Cnnt inelndinpr RnmiaA 

23 



(9 

(9 

(9 

1 100 

2 100 


Japan. 

275 

287 

225 

327 

226 

m 

771 

2 775 


Korea ('Chosen'> . 







750 

993 


•Tobore and Kedah 







48 

2 50 


Siam ... . 


200 

200 

1 

33 

475 

584 

660 


Trenp’p'a.nn CMalav PeninsnlaA 





173 

175 

329 

2350 


Australia. . . 









1,150 

New South Wales . . 

hs 

512 

298 

220 

244 

109 

345 

2300 


Northern Territory. 

78 

71 

44 

42 

50 

50 

45 

250 


Queensland.'. 

1,145 

750 

944 

587 

442 

708 

503 

519 


Tasmania. 

75 

86 

87 

89 

61 

150 

2 124 

292 


Victoria. 

31 

33 

13 

1 

(9 

(9 

1 

(9 


Western Australia. 

2 

12 

(9 

1 

1 

(9 

(9 

(9 


South Australia . 





1 

(9 


East Indies: 









■Billiton. 

21 


21 

20 

20 

20 

20 

60 


Singkep... 

12 


8 

10 

10 

10 

10 



Europe". * . . 









3,000 

Austria. 

54 

50 

73 

75 

75 

75 

2 150 

2 150 

England. 

307 

298 

216 

204 

230 

399 

464 



Fr^ce. 

33 

188 

252 

300 

300 

200 

182 

2 182 


German Empire (Saxony). 

105 

80 

111 

150 

150 

150 

350 

2 200 


Portugal_t.. 

1,132 

1,078 

1,466 

900 

1,000 

1,038 

1,563 

1,741 


Spain 7. 

'169 

'106 

'202 

179 

'175 

211 

'187 

360 


Italy. - . . .. 







6 

6 


Oceania” New Zealand. 

187 

184 

181 

297 

274 

261 

446 

2 550 

400 

North America: 

• 









Mexico. 






155 

175 

341 

326 

Nova Scotia. 

83 

(9 

17 

12 

(9 

(9 

(9 



United States.. 

1,821 

1,139 

1,330 

1,537 

990 

2,332 

5,900 

4,633 

5,046 

South America. 









6,300 

Argentina. 

826 

683 

702 

591 

482 

189 

908 

1,000 

Bolivia... 

232 

370 

547 

328 

320 

902 

3,624 

4:229 


Brazil. 







6 



Chile. 







9 

2 10 


Peru. 

15 

57 

241 

327 

130 

455 

586 

2 700 












Total. 

7,570 

7,517 

9,629 

8,476 

7,877 

12,225 

23,671 

27,067 

36,557 


1 No tungsten ore produced so far as can be learned. Figures in the above table were derived from vari 
ous sources published by the U. S. Geological Survey, in Mineral Resources. 

2 Estimated. 


DOMESTIC PRODUCTION AND RESOURCES. 

Colorado was the chief tungsten producer of the United States 
for 14 years. In 1914, the production of California was greater 
than that of Colorado. In 1916 and again in 1917, their respective 
productions were practically equal and their combined output is 
about 90 per cent of the total output of the country. Nevada is 
the third largest producing State, but its output is considerably less 
than that of either of the first two. Arizona is a small but regular 
producer. South Dakota has been an intermittent producer of wol¬ 
framite, which is found in association with the gold ore of the Black 
HiUs. Tungsten ore has also been produced in New Mexico (wol¬ 
framite), Utah (scheelite), Idaho (huebnerite), Missouri, and Con¬ 
necticut, and showings have been reported in other States. 



























































































































TUNGSTElSr-BEARING ORES 


23 


PRODUCTION IN UNITED STATES. 

Tungsten-hearing ores {concentrates containing 60 per cent TFO3). 

[Figures from Mineral Resources; United States Geological Survey.] 


States. 

1910 

1911 

1912 

Quantity 
(long ‘ 
tons). 

Value. 

Quantity 

(long 

tons). 

Value. 

Quantity 

(long 

tons). 

Value. 

Arizona. 

(Q 

(1) 

1,090 

(1) 

0) 

$535,567 

45 

(1) 

652 

(1) 

(Q 

$16,559 

(1) 

234,513 
0 ) 

0 ) 

24 

(Q 

725 

(1) 

0 ) 

$9,566 
(0 

297,533 

(1) 

(1) 

California. 

Colorado. 

Idaho. 

Nevada. 



New Mexico. 



South Dakota. 

268 

92 

64 

51,768 





Washington. 

0) 

0 ) 



Alaska... 



Connecticut. 







Utah. 







All other. 

176 

245,593 

320 

156,913 

438 

195,059 

Total. 

1,626 

832,992 

1,017 

407,985 

1,187 

502,158 



States or cities. 

1913. 

1914 

1915 

Quantity 

(long 

tons). 

Value. 

Quantity 

(long 

1;ons). 

Value. 

Quantity 

(long 

tons). 

Value. 

Arizona. 

14 

483 

851 

0 ) 

0 ) 

0 ) 

0 ) 

0 ) 

# 

$6,069 
226,260 
428,760 

(Q 

(Q 

(0 

(1) 

(Q 

13 

0) 

417 

(Q 

$6,435 
(1) 

182,013 

(1) 

113 

859 

860 
29 
49 
40 

125 

(Q 

(Q 

(1) 

(1) 

7 

$245,360 

1,005,467 

2,311,200 

47,602 

130,466 

70,934 

181,089 

(Q 

(Q 

(1) 

(Q 

107,882 

California.-. 

Colorado. 

Idaho. 

Nevada . 

New Mexico. 

(Q 

(1) 

Smith Dakota . 

Washington . 



Alaska . 



Conneetient . 





Utah . 



(0 

454 

(Q 

246,552 

All other. 

24 

11,029 

Total. 

1,372 

672,118 

884 

• 

435,000 

2,082 

4,100,000 


States or cities. 

1916 

1917 

1918 

Quantity 

(long 

tons). 

Value. 

Quantity 

(long 

tons). 

Value. 

Quantity 
(long 
tons ).2 

Value. 


41-^ 
195 
1,912 
2,108 

3 

90 

1 

4 

615 

14 

1 

213 

36 

10 


25 

156 

1,951 

1,893 


25 

190 

1,590 

1,705 




















4 







20 











790 

















3 185 


fTfrtVi 













108 





<5,243 


* 4,137 


4,505 





- 


1 Included in “All other.” 

2 Subject to revision. 

3 Includes Utah. . 

< Later figures (subject to revision) show 5,268 long tons m I9lb. 

























































































































































24 UNITED STATES TAKIFF COMMISSION REPORT. 

Colorado .—Practically all the Colorado output is mined in Boulder 
County. The tungsten is found in a belt nearly 12 miles long and 
about 7 miles wide, situated about 25 miles northwest from Denver 
and centermg about Nederland. Prior to 1914 this district pro¬ 
duced fully 60 per cent of the tungsten output of the United States, 
75 to 80 per cent of which came from shallow workings that are now 
exhausted. 

The dominant ore is ferberite, which is not mined to any extent 
in any other part of the w'orld. It is typically difficult to mine, as 
it is usually found in very narrow seams or comparatively small 
lenses in ver}^ hard granite or gneiss. The absence of tinstone, 
tourmaline, and other common associates of tungsten minerals is 
noteworthy. The Boulder County ore is exceptionally free from 
impurities and generally commands a higher price than foreign 
ores because of its extreme purity. The average grade of the ore 
in Boulder County is perhaps 5 per cent WOg,^ and the dump ore at 
producing mines will contain about 0.5 per cent. It is significant 
that the great excitement of 1915-16 failed to open up any impor¬ 
tant new ore bodies in this district. Practically all the large areas 
of float ore and the easily mined surface deposits are exhausted, and 
now the production comes almost wholly from fairly deep workings, 
which are more expensive to mine. The ore shoots are variable in 
length and depth. The average thickness of the mineral bearing 
vein matter is only a few inches. 

In 1916 there were 10 concentrating mills operatmg in the dis¬ 
trict, but in 1918 fuUy half of them were shut down. Only the 
larger companies have survived. A large proportion of the pro¬ 
ducing properties are owned and operated by consumers of tung- 
‘sten, i. e., steel companies or manufacturers of ferrotungsten and 
other tungsten products. Mining^ and development are done al¬ 
most exclusively under the leasing'system, the ^Teaser’’ being paid 
for the ore he extracts (after deducting a royalty). When an un¬ 
usual amount of prospecting or ^‘dead” work is necessary, the ex¬ 
pense is either shared by the company and the lessee or done on 
‘^company account.’’ 

Tungsten ore has been mined at various other localities in Colo¬ 
rado, notably in the southern section, where huebnerite is the chief 
ore. The production has never been important, and practically all 
these mines ceased operations in 1917 or earlier. 

California .—California is the largest producer of scheelite in the 
world. The greatest proved bodies of tungsten ore in the United 
States, and perhaps in the entire world, are those of the Atolia-Rand 
district in San Bernardino County in the southwesterly section of this 
State. The Atolia deposit has been worked to a depth of 700 feet, 
vertical, and the width has in many places exceeded three feet of 
tungsten bearing material, consisting largely of scheelite and quartz. 
Like the Colorado ore, the California product is exceptionally free 
from harmful impurities. Since the adverse prejudice of consumers 
has been overcome, the California scheelite has commanded a premium 
over imported ores and even over the Boulder County concentrate 
which is more difficult to reduce. 


1 Brief of Tungsten Producers, Tariff Commission, Denver Conference. 



TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 


25 


The deposits are found along more or less continuous fissures and 
may be broadly classed as contact metamorphic deposits in distinc¬ 
tion from the stringer lodes of Colorado. The deposits, therefore, 
are often of much larger extent, although frequently low grade. 
The same geological formation found at Atolia extends east and west. 
Westward, the ore in Kern county is wholly scheelite. Eastward, 
more or less of the wolframite series of tungsten minerals is found 
along with the lime tungstate. Scheelite is the principal tungsten 
mineral so far produced in California and the wolframite deposits, 
especially those dominantly of huebnerite, have been generally low 
grade and pockety. There is no ferberite, but there are two districts 
in San Bernardino county where the ore is characteristically 
wolframite. 

There are four counties in this State from which tungsten has 
come, San Bernardino, Inyo, Kern, and Nevada. By far the largest 
production has been derived from San Bernardino and the major 
part of this has come from the Atolia Mining Co. which began pro¬ 
ducing in 1908 and has maintained active mining ever since. One 
of the most interesting developments in the last few years has been 
that in Inyo county, where the ores differ from the more distinctly 
lode occurrences of other sections, as the scheelite is disseminated 
through metamorphic rock. The ore bodies are much larger than 
even the big Atolia deposit but the average grade of the ore treated 
is less than one per cent (occasionally as low as 0.5 per cent) whereas 
the ore of the Atolia Co. runs from two to eight per cent WOg in the 
mill dirt and some high grade is obtained by sorting. There are four 
mills operating in Inyo county (1918). The production from Kern 
county and from the balance of the Atolia district, outside of the Atolia 
Mining Co., comes largely from small operators who produce a few 
tons here and there, partly from lodes and partly from placer work¬ 
ings. 'Mt appears, however, that there are large bodies of low-grade 
ore from which economical recovery could be made if the price was a 
sufficient inducement.^A small amount of scheelite has been pro¬ 
duced in Nevada county, over 800 guiles from Atolia. 

Nevada .—The only important production so far made by Nevada 
was in 1916 when 615 tons of 60 per cent concentrate were produced. 
The most extensive production has come from White Pine County 
and from Sodaville in Humboldt County. The ore is largely scheelite. 
During the period of high prices (1915-16) these counties were very 
active but nearly all operations were discontinued soon after the 
spectacular decline in the tungsten market. Extraordinary finds of 
large bodies of high-grade ore have been reported from time to time, 
in various parts of the State, but the sudden cessation of output 
coincident with the break in price raises some question as to the 
accuracy of the statements. The evidence submitted at the United 
States Tariff Commission conference in San Francisco, especially 
the statements of Messrs. Ackerman and Bradley, indicates a strong 
probability of the existence of important bodies of low grade ore, 
particularly in Nye and Mineral Counties. In these counties, no lode 
deposits have been exploited, but a very large tonnage of placer 
material is said to be available. There is a large ore-body at Bishop, 
Inyo County, that is believed will eventually furnish a large supply 


1 W. W. Bradley (representing Fletcher Hamilton, State mineralogist of California), United States 
TarilT Commission San Francisco Conference Report, p. 57, 



26 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. 

of tungsten at a very low cost. The development of the low grade 
deposits of Nevada will require a considerable outlay of capital. 
The tungsten area can be broadly considered as a continuation of 
the California formations, which it resembles in many particulars. 
There is a larger proportion of wolframite, especially huebnerite, 
but scheelite is the dominant tungsten mineral. Many of the deposits 
also contain sulphide minerals, but a good grade of concentrate can 
be made as there are few very objectionable impurities. 

Alaslca .—Although scheelite had been known to exist in several of 
the Alaskan placers, the demand was insufficient to encourage its 
recovery until 1915 The production has never exceeded 50 tons a 
year and this is maialy a by-product of the gold-dredging operations 
in the Nome placers. There is a small lode production in the Fair¬ 
banks district. 


FOREIGN PRODUCTION AND RESOURCES. 

Burma. —Burma, including the Shan States, has been the largest 
producer of tungsten in the world since 1912. It is one of the newest 
tungsten producing areas. The first important output was made in 
1910. 

There are four important districts found in a belt about 56 miles 
long and 7 miles wide and at least 50 producing mines. The ore is 
wolframite and the output has come largely from placers and surface 
float. Ground sluicing is the common method of recovering the valu¬ 
able mineral, but hydraulicking is employed at some of the larger 
properties and lode mining is on the increase. The most important 
lode district is Tavoy, where the veins are found in a schist of sedi¬ 
mentary origin, capping granite. No lowering in grade has been 
reported as the veins extend downward into the granite; but the width 
is generally less—a vein 2.5 feet wide in the schist, narrowing down 
to 2 feet or less in the granite. All the tungsten deposits contain tin, 
wffiich is frequently an important by-product. Other harmful im¬ 
purities, such as galena, pyrite, columbite, and molybdenite, are 
also invariably present. 

The Burmese tungsten industry passed from German to British 
control in 1915. All shipments had formerly been made to Hamburg 
and the assays made by the German Government for the duty 
assessment (2.5 per cent ad valorem)^ were accepted by buyers and 
sellers as the basis of settlement. The outbreak of the war resulted 
in a temporary derangement of the tungsten industry in this area, 
and in spite of the urgent need of the British Government for tungsten, 
Burma did not respond rapidly at first. Prospecting is hindered 
by heavy rainfall in the summer months, amounting to 200 inches 
from May to November. Lack of transportation and title diffi¬ 
culties were serious handicaps in addition to a shortage of labor. 
The British Government took an active part in the mining and mar¬ 
keting of Burmese tungsten in the fall of 1915. The government 
imported coolies and managers to work the mines and claims that 
were lying practically idle, and built roads and bridges. Under this 
stimulus, production increased 50 per cent in 1915 and the output in 


1 Mineral Industry, XXIII (1914), p. 754. Probably a countervailing tariff as tungsten ore is normally 
admitted free into Germany under the act of 1906. 



TUNGSTEN-BEAKING ORES- 


27 


1917 was almost three times as great as in 1914. There was some 
protest from mine owners because of the importation of 1,500 coolies 
that had no mining experience and had been promised high wages 
(comparatively); but the main contention was the fixing of the 
maximum price of 55s. ($13,365) per long ton unit (22.4 pounds) 
of WO3 when prices in neutral countries were several times as much. 
That this price did not allow sufficient profit is evidenced by the fact 
that it was later (1917) increased to 60s. ($14.60) a long ton unit 
(These quotations were for 65 per cent concentrate, f. o. b. Liverpool.) 

The labor in Burma is almost wholly Chinese under the direction 
of white superintendents. Mining and development are usually under 
contract. In spite of the large increase in the output, the methods 
of mining are still primitive. Most of the crushing is done by hand 
hammers and the ore is concentrated in cradles (by hand). There 
is seldom any attempt to remove tin at the mine. Some of the ore 
is treated with magnetic separators to take out the tin before shipping 
to England, but usually the mixed product is shipped. One or 
more magnetic separators have recently been installed at Rangoon. 

Other Asiatic countries .—^Nearly all the tin mines of the Malay 
Peninsula produce more or less tungsten as a by-product. Smaller 
amounts are mined in French Indo-China (Tonkin) and in Siam. 
Most of the ore is wolframite, although some scheelite is found. The 
Siamese area is a continuation of the Burmese and the ore is found 
on surface. Laborers are paid not over 50 cents (gold) a day. The 
cost of production is very low, the chief expense is the government 
tax (30 to 40 per cent) and the cost of bags which is very high in that 
country. Permits for export were subject to the control of the British 
legation at Bangkok and were practically impossible to get in 1918. 
The ore cost $15 to $17 a unit, c. i. f. American ports.^ 

A new and probably important production comes from southern 
China in the Provinces of Hunan and Kwantung. The production 
in 1917 was more than 100 tons a month. The work was done en¬ 
tirely by hand, mdst of the ore being merely picked up off the ground. 
The product had to be carried on men’s backs or little river junks to 
Canton, whence it was shipped to Hongkong. It came under British 
control at Hongkong and permits to ship to the United States were 
not granted in 1917. 

The total output of Japan and Korea (Chosen) in 1917 was prac¬ 
tically 1,770 tons (on the basis of 60 per cent concentrate), nearly 
1,000 tons of which came from the latter country. Korea is likely 
to become a more important producer as soon as the war-time em¬ 
bargoes on shipments are removed as much high-grade ore is reported 
from various sections and great bodies of low-grade complex ore 
have been proved up. 

Australia .—Tungsten ore has been mined in all the territories of 
Australia. Queensland is the largest producer and New South Wales, 
second. Australia was for several years the largest producer of 
tungsten ores in the world, but when the surface ores were exhausted, 
mining languished, the output dwindled, and the United States took 
the premier position (1906-7). Both wolframite and scheelite are 
found in nearly all the districts. The tungsten is generally associated 
with molybdenite and bismuth and is rarely found in well-defined 


1 O. Nassauer, Tariff Commission Conference Reports, p. 153 (San Francisco). 





28 


UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. 


lodes. The shoots are typically erratic and hard to find. The bulk 
of the output comes from placer deposits of scheelite. The only 
possible checks to the waning output of Australia are the develop¬ 
ment of lode mining and the solution of certain metallurgical problems 
connected with the separation of the complex scheelite ores. Every 
effort was made to increase the production since the outbreak of the 
war, but unsuccessfully (up to the end of 1917). 

Portugal .—Portugal has maintained its position as the chief tung¬ 
sten producing country in Europe for many years. Tungsten is found 
in widely separated regions in Tras Os Montes and Beira Alta (in the 
northerly and central sections of the country) and occurs in quartz 
veins, of the fissure type, cutting both granite and Archaean schists. 
There are no deep mines, mining having stopped at or near water 
level. The ore is generally associated with lead, zinc, or iron sul¬ 
phides in the veins and is mostly wolframite and huebnerite, though 
some scheelite is found. Tin and titanium are found in the country 
rock with no evidence of vein formation and are concentratedwith the 
tungsten ores in alluvial deposits. The latter are an important source 
of tungsten. Most of the production an 1914 was by British-controlled 
companies, but French interests were extended after the outbreak of 
the war, and in 1916, American capital acquired important holdings. 
By an agreement with the Portuguese Government the products of 
the mines are shipped to England, France, and the United States, 
respectively. The remainder of the production, from locally con¬ 
trolled mines, is purchased by agents of the three foreign companies. 
In 1917 the average cost of production of five properties operated by 
hand methods was $8.22 per long ton unit plus $1.07 Government 
tax and $0.50 freight. The average cost at three plants, one British 
and two American, operated by mechanical methods was $7.59 plus 
the same charges.^ The ore was sold at the British Government fixed 
price of 55s.^ 

Portugal produced the equivalent of 1,741 tons of 60 per cent con¬ 
centrate in 1917. This was 57 per cent of the whole European pro¬ 
duction. Most of the product is comparatively free from tin, sulphur, 
bismuth, and phosphorus.^ 

Other European countries .—Tungsten ore, chiefly wolframite, is 
produced in Spain, Cornwall, France, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. 
The average annual output of each of these countries is approximately 
200 tons. The productions decrease slightly in the order named. 
Russia produced 110 tons in 1917 and this was practically its first 
production. A few tons are mined in Norway and Italy every year. 
Most of the European tungsten deposits are associated with tin mines, 
and the ores are generally contaminated with tin and other harmful 
impurities. 

South America. —Wolframite, scheelite, and huebnerite are all 
found along the eastern cordillera in Bolivia, Argentina, and Peru and 
in Chile and Brazil. In 1917 Bolivia produced over 70 per cent of the 
whole South American output, and its production was almost as great 
as that of the United States, or the third largest in the world. 

1 F. W. Foote and R. S. Ransome, jr., Eng. Mg. Jl. 106 (1918), pp. 47-53. 

2 Ibid. p. 50. The authors estimate the net value at $11.80 a long ton unit after deducting freight to Eng¬ 
land, insurance, etc. This leaves a profit margin of $2.64 a unit to the plants with mechanical equipment 
and $2.01 a unit to the plants working by hand methods. 

3 A Uscussion of mine labor coniitions in Portugal will be found in the miscellaneous section. 




TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 


29 


The Bolivian ores are found at high altitudes, between 13,500 and 
16,500 feet above sea level. Only natives, accustomed to work at 
such altitudes, can do any physical work at these elevations; the 
labor supply is, therefore, limited. Transportation is difficult and the 
ore must be sent down aerial tramways to a place where water can 
be had for concentration. Silver is a common associate of the tung¬ 
sten and is usually present in sufficient value to warrant a preliminary 
leaching of the ore with hyposulphite of lime to extract the precious 
metal before the mechanical concentration for the recovery of the 
tungsten. As the tungsten veins are often crossed and intertwined 
with tin veins, the mining of the two metals goes hand in hand, and 
the concentration of the mixed ore involves this difficitlt separation 
(which is rarely complete). Copper is another unwelcome associate 
arid there is generally some bismuth. 

About 70 per cent of the Bolivian output comes from the Department 
of Oruro, 20 per cent from La Paz, and the remainder from Potosi. 
Approximately 75 per cent of the production is exported to the United 
States, most of the remainder to England, in 1917; but in that year 
there was much competitive buying by French and British commis¬ 
sions, and in 1918 a larger part of the ore was diverted to Europe. 

Argentina is the second largest of the South American producers. 
Tungsten and petroleum are practically its only mineral products. 
The chief production has come from a mine in the Sierra Cordoba, 
controlled by the Hansa Sociedad de Minas, a German concern.^ The 
Argentine ore was all shipped to Germany before the war and in 1915 
operations were temporarily suspended. Later the output was con¬ 
tracted for by American firms and production resumed and increased. 
In 1917-18 there were large shipments to Europe as well as to the 
United States. 

Most of the Peruvian mines are owned and operated by native 
capital. The tungsten minerals are huebnerite and wolframite and 
are generally accompanied by considerable, even economical, amounts 
of copper. As in most Andean mines, development and operation are 
hindered by the extreme difficulty of transportation. Only a few 
mills have been erected and most of the concentrating is done by 
women who hand pick the coarse material and pan the fines. In 
1916-17 English interests secured an option on the Huara deposits in 
the Province of Ancachs. These are reported to be the largest bodies 
of tungsten ore in the world.^ 

In common with most mineral products, tungsten ore exports from 
nearly all South American countries are subject to an export tax, 
which is generally based on a sliding scale depending on the price of 
the ore as well as the financial necessities of the individual country. 
These taxes are constantly fluctuating. 

Canada .—No important discoveries of tungsten minerals have been 
made in Canada. A small and fairly steady output of scheelite has 
been maintained in Nova Scotia, largely as a by-product of the treat¬ 
ment of gold ore. Tungsten finds, and a sporadic production, have 
been reported from British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Ontario. 


1 Mineral Industry, XXIII (1914), p. 750. A characteristic feature of the Cordoba ore is the presence of 
appreciable amounts of the very rare metal niobium, some specimens run as high as 1.5 per cent niobium 

oxide (Nb 203 ). 

2 Min. Jour., Mar. 3, 1917. 





30 


UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. 


Mexico .—Since 1915 small shipments of tungsten have been made 
from various parts of Mexico, especially Sonora. Much of it has been 
marketed at a comparatively low price, being stolen ore or ore mined 
by ‘‘high-graders.’’ It is handled at Douglas, Ariz., by American ore 
buyers. Scheelite is a minor constituent of the Moctezuma Copper 
Co. (Phelps-Dodge) ore at Pilares de Nacozari, but so far as known, 
no attempts have been made to recover it. 

COSTS. 

Any accurate estimate of the average cost of producing tungsten 
ore is impossible. The main difficulty is to determine the cost of 
developing the ore body. This may be either very great or very 
small. In surface workings, the element of prospecting is often prac¬ 
tically negligible and the total cost of production is only slightly more 
than the working cost. In deeper mines, the cost of dead work and 
drifting in search of new bodies is a large item. Under the leasing 
system, especially, the determination of this cost is impossible, since 
one lessee after another will do some work on the same block of 
ground and then quit. Most of the production throughout the world 
comes from small operators that seldom keep any accurate records. 
Even when accurate records are kept, the costs are so widely different 
that any attempt to correlate them is fruitless. 

The main factor in all mining costs is the cost of labor, and wages 
have risen all over the world. Supply costs have also increased. In 
the tungsten industry, costs have increased from 40 to 50 per cent 
during the war period. Considerable data in regard to costs in 1912- 
13 were given in tariff hearings and are summarized on page 15. 

Detailed cost figures have been furnished by a number of domestic 
producers. These are available in the confidential files of this com¬ 
mission together with the data furnished at the conferences held at 
Denver and San Francisco. In Colorado the costs in 1918 of the 
larger producers were estimated to run from $15 to $33 per unit, with 
an average cost of approximately $20. Californian costs are lower, 
but it is doubtful if any large production in that section can be 
maintained at a cost of less than $10 per unit, with much of it cost¬ 
ing considerably more. Before the war, the Atolia Co. sold ore at 
less than $6 per unit, but the production came then from the upper 
levels of the ore body; the vein in those horizons was richer and 
wider, and operating costs have increased very rajiidly during the 
war period. 

While the available data are not wholly satisfactory, it seems prob¬ 
able that only about one-half of the domestic output is produced at 
a cost of from $10 to $15 per unit, and that the remainder costs from 
$15 to $25 per unit, averaging, say, $20. It is very unlikely that any 
considerable amount of tungsten ore can again be pioduced at much, 
if any, less than $10 per unit unless large, low-grade deposits can be 
systematically developed and equipped for production on a large 
tonnage basis. 

Foreign costs are much more difficult to ascertain. A large range 
of estimates has been secured from various sources. Many of these 
estimates run considerably above the prices that the British Govern¬ 
ment was paying to producers during the war period and are mani¬ 
festly too high. On tke other hand, it is stated that much of the 


TUNGSTEN-BEAKING GEES. 


31 


Burmese ore is produced for less than $2 per unit. There is little 
uniformity in the figures and no definite conclusions can be drawn 
from such data. A better index is the record of sales in the con¬ 
suming markets. As soon as shijming restrictions were removed 
after the signing of the armistice a flood of tungsten ore came to the 
United States from China and the Far East. This material was sold 
as low as $6 per unit on the New York market and most of it changed 
hands at much less than $8 per unit. Undoubtedly some of these 
sales represent liquidation of stocks with slight regard to profits. 
A little of it may even have been sold below the delivered cost. But 
it is significant that nearly seven months after the embargoes were 
removed this ore is offered at $7 per unit in New York, although 
quotations on future deliveries from China are placed at $8. Appar¬ 
ently a large supply of Chinese ore can be placed on the New York 
market at less than $10 per unit, until these bonanza deposits of 
improved extent are exhausted (unless, of course, the cost to the 
importer is increased by a duty placed upon the ore).' 

Costs m other Far Eastern countries—Bolivia and Portugal—must 
also be judged by the prices at which their product is sold in consum¬ 
ing markets. On this basis they come between the very cheap 
Chinese (and Burmese) material and the more expensive production 
of the United States. The British Government controlled prices on 
tungsten ore—drawn from Burma, Portugal, and Bolivia—have 
ranged from $12, in 1918 to $6.25 in early 1919. 

MAKKETS AND MARKETING. 

In the prewar period Germany was the clearing house for most of 
the tungsten ore mined in the world, and a large part of the tungsten 
powder and ferroalloy was manufactured in that country and fur¬ 
nished to steel makers throughout the world. Most of the American 
production, however, has always found a ready market at home and 
was reduced in the United States. The world situation was abruptly 
changed by the outbreak of the war and the elimination of the Central 
Powers from general commerce. Great Britain controlled more than 
half of the tungsten output of the world, so that country now became 
the logical center of the industry. The construction of reduction 
plants was started at once and these were soon able to take double 
the amount of ore readily obtainable. The steadily growing demands 
of American steel makers, which far exceeded the domestic produc¬ 
tion of ore, resulted in active competition between British and Amer¬ 
ican interests for South American and Asiatic ore, and even for the 
Portuguese output. In an attempt to straighten out this tangle of 
interests, a contract was drafted in 1917-18 whereby each country 
should retain control of all tungsten produced in its own territory, 
while that produced in other countries was to be equally divided 
between the two contractors. In view of the fact that fully two- 
thirds of all the tungsten output of the world was produced in British- 
controlled territory, this agreement would have been manifestly dis¬ 
advantageous to the American industry, whose requirements exceeded 
those of the British steel makers, and it was never consummated. 

The chief market for tungsten ore in the United States is in. the 
Eastern States, especially in the vicinity of Pittsburgh. Only a small 
part of the total domestic concentrate is reduced in Western States 



32 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. 

closer to the miiies; so most of the concentrate must be shipped East. 
In stringent markets it sometimes goes by express. 

Many tungsten concentrates contain deleterious impurities which 
impair their value as sources of ferrotungsten. Most metallic im¬ 
purities are reduced along with the tungsten in the electric furnace 
if not removed beforehand, and hence would go into the steel and 
injure its quality. Objectionable impurities are antimony, arsenic, 
bismuth, copper, lead, nickel, tin, zinc, phosphorus, and sulphur. 
Fortunately for the American producer, domestic ores are singularly 
free from the more objectionable impurities. Most foreign ores 
contain them in more or less amounts, and, consequently, almost 
invariably sell at a discount. 

The usual quotations for tungsten ore are based on material con¬ 
taining 60 per cent tungsten trioxide and no objectionable impuri¬ 
ties.^ Separate quotations are sometimes published for wolframite 
and scheelite. The latter is more easily reduced in the electric 
furnace and commonly valued $1 or more a unit higher than 
wolframite. A slightly better price can be gotten for ferberite than 
for wolfrarfiite, while huebnerite sells for a little less than the standard 
ore. The removal of a large manganese content in the electric 
furnace is difficult and since it tends to lower the grade of the ferro- ^ 
alloy, it is undesirable. 

The above statements apply to ores of the same tungsten content. 
A reduction in WO 3 content below 60 per cent is penalized and a 
product containing less than about 40 per cent WO 3 is bargained for 
with little reference to published quotations, even though it may 
contain no harmful impurities. 

Mine dirt up to 20 or 30 per cent WO 3 can be sold only to custom 
concentrating mills. The price paidps a matter of agreement between 
the producer and the millman. A sliding scale is usually adopted. 
In Boulder County, Colo., one mill ^ bases its payments on the pub¬ 
lished New York schedule with liberal discounts to cover losses, 
cost of treatment, and market uncertainties. The following example 
is illustrative: Engineering and Mining Journal quotation, $22 a 
unit for 60 per cent WO 3 ; mill quotation, $18 on 60 per cent. The 
price paid per unit for 2 per cent ore is $5 a unit (i. e. $10 a ton), 
and this price per unit is increased by $1 a unit for each 1 per 
cent increase in grade of the ore up to 7 per cent (which is, therefore, 
valued at $10 a unit or $70 a ton). From 7 to 18 per cent WO 3 the 
price per unit is increased only 15 cents a unit for each 1 per cent 
improvement in grade. 

DOMESTIC PRODUCTION AND PRICES. 

The question of prices is more intimately interrelated with that of 
production in the tungsten industry than in any other branch of 
mining. The following table illustrates the growth of the industry 
in the United States and its extraordinary expansion under the 
stimulus of high prices, in spite of the depletion of easily mined 
deposits and surface ore: 

1 Foote Mineral Co. specifications for commercial grade, guaranteed: Tungsten trioxide, minimum,. 
60 per cent; sulphur, copper, and phosphorus, each, maximum, 0.05 per cent. 

Tin or bismuth, absent or traces. 

$2 to $8 per unit penalty for excess impurities beyond above allowance. 

* Statement of W. F. Bleecker, Tariff Commission Denver Conference Report, p. 203 et seq. 




TUITGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 



Production of tungsten concentrate in the United States^ 
[In tons of 2,000 lbs., 60 per cent WO 3 .] 


Year. 

Produc¬ 

tion. 

xVverage 
price 
per unit. 

Year. 

Produc¬ 

tion. 

Average 
price 
per unit. 

1901. 

179 
184 
292 
740 
803 
928 
1,640 
671 
1,619 

S2.58 
3.00 
2.48 
4.00 
5.57 
6.27 
9.05 
5.;;2 
6.32 

1910. . 

1,821 
1,139 
1,330 
1,537 
990 
2,332 
7,469 
5,313 

S7.62 

5.97 

6.28 

7.30 

7.32 

29.33 

70.00 

21.67 

1902. 

1911. . . 

1903. 

1912... . 

1904. 

1913. . 

1905. 

1914- 

1906. 

1915 

1907. 

1916. ... 

1908. 

1917. 

1909. 

1918. 






1 Compiled from Mineral Industry (compare with U. S. Geological Survey data on p. 23.) 


The rise in the price of tungsten was fairly steady and rapid until 
the latter part of 1907. The first ore, known to have heen mined in 
the United States and sold, was produced in 1900. At that time the 
price of tungsten trioxide was about S2 per unit in a 60 per cent 
concentrate. With the betterment in price the production increased 
slowly. In 1906 there was a remarkable increase and at-the beginning 
of 1907 the price had risen to from $9 to $14 a unit. During the first 
part of 1907 business was good and there were large gains in produc¬ 
tion both in the United States and in foreign countries. Near the end 
of the year came the slump in the steel industry and the panic of 
1907-8. The tungsten industry was temporarily crippled. Prices 
dropped to $5 a unit in the latter part of the year and continued at 
that level through the early part of the following year with produc¬ 
tion at a low ebb. Late in 1908 prices improved and the tungsten 
industry responded rapidly to an active demand. Production came 
back in 1909 to almost the high record of 1907 and in 1910 exceeded it. 
Then came another slump in the steel industry which was naturally 
reflected in the tungsten price and production. The period from 1912 
up to the outbreak of the world conflict was one of slow recuperation 
from the 1911 setback. Improvement in price was not so rapid as in 
1909, when the declining output from Australia strengthened the 
market. Burma began to produce tungsten in 1910 and immediately 
became an important factor in the world market. Only the more 
general recognition of the valuable properties of the black metal pre¬ 
vented an actual slump in prices. In the early part of 1914 there was 
a slack demand for tungsten and a tendency toward sagging prices, 
most sales being made on a basis of about $6.50 a unit. The out¬ 
break of the war in August nearly paralyzed tungsten mining, and it 
was not until toward the end of the year that the demand quickened. 
Prices as high as $9 a unit were offered but throughout the year the 
price depended on the quality and quantity of ore and the urgency of 
the needs of buyers and sellers. The market was not general or active. 
Production fell off 40 per cent. 

In the first quarter of 1915 the domestic production was at about 
the same rate as in 1914 and 60 per cent concentrates sold as low as 
$5.80 a unit. War orders were beginning to pour into the United 
States from England and France and caused a great demand for 
tungsten for high-speed cutting tools and other special steels. Then 






































34 UNITED STATES TAKIEF COMMISSION REPORT. 

the British Government placed an embargo on the exportation of 
tungsten ore and products from Burma and all British possessions. 
This embargo practically cut off all sources of foreign supply, im¬ 
portations of tungsten suddenly and almost completely stopped, so 
consumers turned to the domestic producers for their supplies. Prices 
began to soar; in May the value of tungsten concentrates had almost 
doubled and before the end of the year there was a frantic demand 
at $50 and $62.50 a unit. Mining of all known deposits were pushed 
and there was active prospecting for new deposits under the stimulus 
of record prices. As a result the 1915 output was nearly 140 per cent 
greater than that of 1914 and the greatest in the previous history of 
tungsten mining in this country and its value was nearly two and a 
half times as great as that for any previous year. 

The boom that started in the latter part of 1915 expanded at an 
enormous rate in the early months of 1916 and reached its climax in 
April, when sales were made at the record price of $82.50 ^ a unit, 
compared with $7.32, the average price in 1914. This was the peak 
price, and before the middle of May the bottom dropped out of the 
market. Quotations at the end of May were less than half those of 
the preceding month, and buyers were taking only what they needed 
for immediate, use. The hesitancy of consumers to make purchases 
together with a forced restriction in consumption allowed stocks to 
accumulate and the great activity of producers hastened the con¬ 
tinued decline. In August the market steadied, while consumers 
satisfied their most pressing requirements at prices averaging only a 
little more than $25 a unit. The first week in September was marked 
by another precipitate decline, but the market soon found its level at 
about $17 and this price prevailed with a slight upward trend to the 
end of the year. 

The abnormal market stimulus in the spring of 1916 aroused great 
excitement in all tungsten districts. Speculation in mines was even 
greater than in the ore and metal market. The wildest scramble for 
tungsten properties was that in Boulder County, Colorado. Clerks, 
waiters, farm hands, miners, and promoters all joined in a feverish 
search for showings of tungsten ore. The mad rush came when the 
ground was covered with snow, and little could be judged as to the 
value of the various claims and prospects, many of which changed 
hands several times a day. Thousands of dollars were paid for 
options, merely on hearsay evidence. Before the snow was gone and 
real prospecting and development could commence the bubble had 
burst. A number of ‘leasers stayed and a few prospectors remained 
to work their claims, but most of the speculators and fortune seekers 
drifted away without in anyv/ay adding to the output of the ore. 
Nevertheless the high prices of 1916 caused the reopening of many 
abandoned mines and brought about the discovery of some new 
deposits. After a few months development the output began to 
grow. On July 1, in only six months, an equivalent of over 3,000 
tons of 60 per cent concentrates had been produced—more than the 
United States or any other country had ever produced in any 12 
months previous to that time. The total production for the year 
was equivalent to 5,243 tons of 60 per cent concentrate, valued at 
$25,000,000. 


1 “ In one instance, at least, upwards of $100 a unit was paid * * U. S. Tariff Commission,, Denver 
Conference Report, p. 180. 



TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 


35 


year 1917 was characterized by a reasonably steady market 
with a gradual upward movement. The monthly quotations which 
are given in the table below show a preference for scheelite, which 
developed in that year for the first time. Wolframite, especially 
ferberite, had hitherto been preferred to the lime mineral. 

The tungsten ore market in 1918 started with a considerable ac¬ 
cumulation of off-grade ore in New York. There were also some 
stocks of high-grade ore that was tied up by traffic conditions. The 
congestion of the railroads favored further accumulations. Western 
ore traveled, at times, two or three months before it reached its 
destination; and buyers, running short of material, preferred to buy 
spot New York delivery, which, in spite of delayed transit, reached 
Eastern points quicker than material sent from California and Nevada.^ 
Chinese ore first became an active feature of the market in May 
and thenceforth was the important factor, though, on account of 
impurities, it was obtainable at a considerable reduction from the 
quotations of high-grade ore. The latter continued to sell, right 
up to the signing of the armistice, at prices of $24 and $24.50 % 
wolframite and $25 and $26 for scheelite, while the off-grade ore, 
which could be used only by plants employing special chemical 
(acid) treatment, was selling at from $5 to $6 per unit less. 

Chinese ore deliveries in July to October ran up to about 1,200 ton 
per month, as compared with a total of only 200 tons in 1917. Im¬ 
ports from all countries were governed by the licensing system intro¬ 
duced by the American Iron and Steel Institute and which also 
covered the importation of all ferroalloys. 

When the armistice was signed, November 11, the business in tung¬ 
sten ore came almost to a stop. Government contracts were largely 
canceled and new business for peace purposes did not offset the loss 
of war orders. There was practically no market. Chinese ore con¬ 
tinued to be imported in 1919 and supplies accumulated rapidly. 
While at first there was no regular market, quotations for spot 
delivery of Chinese ore later became adjusted at $6.50 and, later, $7 
per unit. By June there was some dissipation of stocks of Chinese 
ore in this country and q^uotations for future delivery were placed 
at $8 per unit. Domestic mines were closed and American ore was 
no longer quoted. 

Average monthly price of tungsten ore.^ 


[In dollars per unit, WO3]. 



1917 

1918 


Wolf¬ 

ramite. 

Scheelite. 

Wolf¬ 

ramite. 

Scheelite. 

January. 

17.14 

17.50 

24.75 

26.00' 

February. 

16.80 

17.50 

24.50 

26.00 

March. 

17.17 

17.77 

24.00 

24.55 

April. 

17.86 

19.04 

24.00 

24.50 

May. 

19.10 

20.94 

24.00 

24.13 

June. 

20.80 

23.50 

24.00 

24.00 

July. 

23.44 

25.68 

24.00 

24.00 

August. 

24.66 

26.50 

24.50 

25.05 

September. 

23.92 

26.00 

24.50 

25.35 

October. 

24.00 

26.00 

25.00 

26.00 

Nnvftmher.. 

26.00 

26.00 

(9 

(^) 

(») 

(») 

December. 

25.24 

26.56 





Vfiftr.-. 

21.34 

22.75 

24.325 

24.95S 



1 Charles Hardy; Eng. Min. Journ. 107 (1919), p. 80. 

2 Engineering and Mining Journal quotations. 

* No market. 





























36 


UNITED STATES TAKIFF COMMISSION KEPOKT. 


DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION AND SOURCES OF SUPPLY. 

The United States has become one of the largest consumers of 
tungsten in the world. While it is also one of the largest single 
producers, the domestic output has always been insufficient to sat¬ 
isfy the demands of consumers and the balance has to be imported. 
Most of the foreign supply came from Germany before the war in 
the form of both tungsten ore and as metal or ferrotungsten, but 
Germany was eliminated at the outbreak of the world conffict and 
the United States has fallen back on South America and China to 
supplement its domestic supplies. This change in sources of supply 
has also wrought a change in the character of the imports. Since 
there are no tungsten reduction works in South America, the tungsten 
supply in later years has been imported almost wholly in the form 
of ore to be reduced in this country. No tungsten is exported in 
the form of ore but there are appreciable quantities of ferrotungsten 
shipped out of the United States. In considering the needs of the 
United States, account should be taken of these exports of a com¬ 
paratively crude form. A close approximation to recent actual 
consumption of tungsten is obtained in the following table. The 
data are based on 60 per cent concentrate, assuming that one ton 
of ferrotungsten is equivalent to two tons of concentrate. 

Domestic consumption tungsten metal.^ 


(Expressed in short tons of 60 per cent concentrates: 1 ton ferro=2 tons concentrate.) 


- 

1913 

1917 

1918 (7 months). 


Tons. 

Per cent. 2 

Tons. 

Per cent. 2 

Tons. 

Per cent. 2 

SOURCES OF SUPPLY. 







Imports: 







South America. 



3,560 

37.4 

2,126 

30.8 

China-Japan. 



'831 

8.7 

1,'931 

28.0 

Europe.. 

1,705 

52.3 

121 

1.3 

50 

.7 

Mexico-Canada. 

12 

.3 

340 

3.6 

211 

3.1 

All other. 

6 

.2 

28 

_ .3 

27 

.4 

Total imports. 

1,723 

52.8 

4,880 

51.3 

4,345 

63.0 

Domestic production. 

1,537 

47.2 

4,633 

84.7 

2,550 

37.0 

Total supply. 

3,260 

100.0 

9,513 

100.0 

6,895 

100.0 

DISBURSEMENTS. 







Exports: 







France. 

(») 

(^) 

316 

3.3 

694 

10.1 

Italy. 

(3) 

(^) 

1,328 

14.0 

280 

4.1 

England. 

(®) 

(®) 

310 

3.2 



Canada. 

G) 

(3) 

20 

.2 

16 

.2 

All other. 

(3) 

(3) 

104 

1.1 

1 







Total exports. 

(») 

(3) 

2,078 

2.18 

991 

14.4 

Net domestic consumption. 

3,260 

100.0 

7,435 

78.2 

5,904 

85.6 


1 Data from Department of Commerce records, Geological Survey, and War Industries Board. 

* Per cent of total supply. 

3 Included in “All others” in Department of Commerce records; exports only of ferroalloy and none 
prior to 1914. 

The above table clearly shows the great increase in the consump¬ 
tion of tungsten in the United States, not only the consumption of 
concentrates that are merely made into ferrotungsten or tungsten 














































TUNGSTEN-BEAEING GEES. 


37 


metal, but also the net consumption that goes into ultimate manu¬ 
factures. The reduction of concentrate is a comparatively minor 
industry, and has developed in the United States, merely as a matter 
of convenience, just as Germany was formerly the brokerage market 
as well as a consuming market. The tungsten exports are wholly 
of metal or ferrotungsten. Since there is no tariff on tungsten ore, 
no records are kept of the portion of these exports derived from 
domestic and from foreign ore. If the ore were dutiable, most of 
these exports would have been ^‘smelted in bond” or ^‘exported with 
benefit of drawback.” 

The development of tungsten ore reduction for export is a direct 
result of the transfer of sources of-supply, which are also indicated in 
the above table. Before the war, a large part of the foreign supply 
of tungsten came from Europe, especially Germany, and a Targe part 
of it was imported in the form of metal and alloy. 

IMPORTS. 

Before the war, Germany furnished the United States with about 
two-thirds of its imported supply of tungsten ores in addition to large 
amounts of tungsten metal and ferroalloy. Since Germany in normal 
times produced only 100 or 200 tons of tungsten ore a year, it is 
evident that Germany was not the country of origin of the large 
importations received in the United States, and that they were chiefly 
of ore produced in other countries and reexported from Germany. 
Until the outbreak of the war practically all the tungsten ore output 
of the world, with t^he exception of that of the United States and 
certain European countries, was sold to German buyers. The 
German firms were ready to purchase and treat ores containing 
objectionable impurities and low-grade material that British buyers 
would not touch and, naturally, a large part of the world output 
-gravitated to this omnivorous market. Most of this ore was made 
into metal or ferro tungsten in Germany,^ but the German ore buyers 
did some brokerage business and reshipped an important tonnage of 
the better class of ore, especially to the United States. In 1913 
(fiscal year) the United States imported a total of 766 long tons of 
tungsten ore of which 600 long tons came from Germany. 

Just preceding the war there was little demand for tungsten and 
imports fell off. The sudden demand in 1915 was only partially met 
by the increased domestic production. Germany was cut off as a 
source of supply because of the war. American consumers began 
to draw supplies direct from South American sources and in 1917 
(fiscal year) over 80 per cent of the 3,832 tons of tungsten ore imported 
into the United States came from Peru, Chile, Argentina, Panama, 
and Ecuador. The imports from Panama were reshipments from 
Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Colombia. A large part of the imports 
from Chile, Peru, and Ecuador is of ore produced in Bolivia. 

In general, imported ore has a higher tungsten content than the 
domestic product. A little of it grades down to 50 per cent WO 3 , but 
the average is close to 60 per cent. It is rarely free from objectionable 
impurities. Much of it is impure stuff that can not be treated directly 
by the electric furnace plants, but is snapped up at low prices by 
companies equipped to treat it by chemical processes. 


1 In the 5-year period 1909-1913, the net imports of tungsten ore into Germany averaged 3,600 tons a year. 
Report of British Royal Commission. 





.38 


UNITED STATES TAEIFE COMMISSION REPOKT 


IMPORTS BY COUNTRIES. 
[Fiscal years.] 


Imported from— 

19121 

1913 

1914 

Long tons. 

Dollars. 

Long tons. 

Dollars. 

Long tons. 

Dollars. 

Germany. 

Portugal. 

Spain.-.. 

233 

60 

30 

48 

115,307 
29,703 
11,532 
23,212 

600 

80 

300,867 
41,732 

125 

70 

78,709 
37,063 

United Kingdom. 

Canada..*. 

68 

34,557 
6,789 
2,684 

22 

13,519 

Straits Settlements. 





All nthftr. 





Total... 







371 

179,754 

766 

386,629 

217 

129,-291 


Imported from— 


Long 

tons. 


1915 


Dollars. 


Long 

tons. 


1916 


Dollars. 


1917 


Long 

tons. 


Dollars. 


Long 

tons. 


1918 


Dollars. 


Germany.. 

Portugal. 

Spain. 

United Kingdom.., 

Canada.. 

Straits Settlements 

Chile.. 

Peru.. 

Uruguay.. 

Japan. 

Mexico.. 

Argentina. 

Bolivia. 

Panama. 

Ecuador. 

China. 

Siam.. 

All other. 

Total. 


11 

34 

16 

175 


19 

154 

6 

24 


439 


8,692 
17,558 
7,095 
84,891 


232 

17 

31 


286,444 
15, 618 
23, 361 


39 


41,007 


92 


82,583 


11 


36,000 


10,531 
72,553 
2,340 
11,492 


215,152 


786 

800 

24 

362 

174 

373 

75 

3 


25 

25 

83 


3,010 


2,017,145 
1,223,001 
27,242 
791,568 
36,677 
684,677 
203,767 
7,600 


12, 768 
22, 778 
100,986 


5,453,632 


1,407 

1,092 

2,013,411 
1,073,001 

286 

374,404 

304 

192,339 

449 

1,062,604 

140 

' 144,558 

5 

5, 300 

50 

42, 747 

50 

48,877 

1 

1,250 

3,823 

4,999,498 


1,358 1,364,461 

1,528 1,455,863 


965 

263 

251 

65 

23 

10 

759 

20 

301 


1,157,329 
214,072 
371,227 
82,542 
26,143 
12,559 
723,935 
17,166 
249,818 


5,646 


5,793,698 


1 Included in “All other articles” prior to 1912. 


IMPORTS FOR CONSUMPTION—REVENUE. 


Fiscal years. 

Rates of duty. 

Quan¬ 

tities 

(long 

tons). 

Values. 

Duties 

collected. 

Value per 
unit of 
quantity. 

Actual 
and com¬ 
puted ad 
valorem 
rate 
(per 
cent). 

19101. 

10 per cent. 


272,311.00 
241,795.00 
184,518.00 
386,629.00 
5,237.00 
124,054.00 
215,152.00 
5,453,632.00 
4,999,498.00 
5,880,473.00 

27,231.10 

24,179.50 

18,451.80 

38,662.90 

523.70 


10.00 

10.00 

10.00 

10.00 

10.00 

1911. 

_*. do. 



1912. 

.do. 

381.00 
766.37 
10.00 
228.00 
439.00 
3,012.00 
3,733.00 
5, 741.00 

484.30 
504.50 
523.70 

544.10 

490.10 

1.810.30 

1.339.30 
1,024.30 

1913... 

.do. 

1914 2... 

.do. 

1914 3. 

Free. 

1915. 




1916. 




1917. 




1918. 

.do. 








1 Aug. 6, 1909, to June 30, 1910. 

2 July 1 to Oct^ 3,1913, under act of 1909 


3 Oct. 4,1913, to June 30,1914, under act of 1913. 










































































































































TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 


39 


EXPORTS. 

The United States is a large importer of tungsten ore, but not an 
exporter. Some of the California product was exported to Germany 
before the war,^ but the amount was so small that no records are 
available. The exports shown in the domestic consumption table 
on a previous page were of ferrotungsten and calculated as con¬ 
centrate rnerely for the purpose of comparison. Before the war little 
tungsten in any form was 'exported and the comparatively large 
exports of ferroalloy were due solely to war conditions, the United 
States having taken Germany’s place to some extent as the immediate 
market for South American and Far Eastern ore. 


Prices, tungsten-hearing ores {wholesale or retail)—Average of concentrates, 60 per cent 

WOs. 

[Data from The Mineral Industry.] 


Kinds or grades. 

Per short 
ton. 

( 

'Kinds or grades. 

Per short 
ton. 

1908. 

$3-13 

379 

457 

358 

377 

1913. 

$438 

439 

1,760 

4,200 

1,300 

1909. 

1914. 

1910. 

1915. 

1911. 

1916. 

1912. 

1917. 




RATES OF DUTY ON TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 


Act of— 

Tariff classification or description. 

Rates of duty, specific and 
ad valorem. 

Year. 

Para¬ 

graph. 

1909 

1913 

190 

633 

Tungsten-bearing ores of all kinds. 

10 per cent ad valorem. 
Free. 


.. 


COURT AND TREASURY DECISIONS. 

Tungsten ore or wolfram was held to be exempt from duty as a 
crude mineral under the act of 1897, and not dutiable as'a metal 
unwrought nor as a metallic mineral substance in a crude state. 
(Flempstead v. Thomas, 122 Fed. 538 (T. .D. 24506), reversing 115 
Fed. 256; followed in G. A. 5400 (T. D. 24607). 


1 J. H. Mackenzie, Tariff Commission Conference Report, p. 18. 
















































III. COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS. 

The United States has never produced sufficient tungsten to satisfy 
the domestic demand. Stimulated by the great demand and con¬ 
sequent high prices of 1915-16, the production increased enormously; 
but even in 1916, the production increased at a slower rate than 
consumption. This relatively greater^ increase in consumption as 
compared with the domestic supply is not confined to the war period, 
but was in progress for several years preceding the outbreak of the 
Great War. 


Table showing the approximate proportion of domestic tungsten ore requirements produced 

in the United States. 


■ 

Calendar year. 

Domestic 

pro¬ 

duction.! 

Imports.! 

Available 

supply. 

Propor¬ 
tion of 
available 
supply 
produced 
in United 
States. 

1912. 

Long tons. 
1,187 
1,372 
884 
2,082 
5,268 
4,137 

Long tons. 
736 
401 
267 
1,370 
3,547 
4,357 

Long tons. 
1,913 
1,773 
1,151 
3,452 
8,815 
8,494 

Per cent. 
62.0 
77.4 

76.6 
60.3 

59.7 

48.7 

1913. 

1914. 

1915. 

1916. 

1917. 



1 Production calculated into tons of 60 per cent W O3. No data for correcting import tonnage to 60 per 
cent basis. 


From 1912 to 1916, the domestic production exceeded the imports, 
but in 1917 and 1918, the consumption of foreign ore in the United 
States exceeded that from domestic mines. As has been noted else¬ 
where this increase in percentage of foreign ore is partly attributable 
to the fact that in recent years there have been no imports of ferro- 
tungsten and some ferrotungsten has been exported. The main 
point, however, is that domestic production was handicapped 
because of the drop in price and the competition of foreign supplies. 

The production of tungsten in every country passes through an 
early st^e of comparatively cheap output from float ore and rich, 
easily-mined surface deposits. Practically no equipment or invest¬ 
ment is required and the labor necessary to secure the ore is 
much less than is required at a later period, when the supply of 
ore must be got from underground mining. In this later period, 
the continued production of ore necessitates deep mining, more 
equipment, a comparatively heavy capital outlay for development, 
and generally higher operating costs. 

Australia was in the first stage up to 1905. The United States 
was in it until 1915. Now, however, both countries are, broadly 
speaking, in the later stage. The output of both countries has 
dwindled, more' rapidly in Australia because there the conditions 
are aggravated and have existed a longer time, but no less surely in 
the United States. The Boulder County (Colo.) district, which 
formerly supplied over 60 per cent of the domestic production is 
40 




























TUNGSTEN-BEAKIIs^G GEES. 


41 


stripped of easily inined ore and faces high costs and large invest¬ 
ments if its production is to be maintained at anything like its former 
rate from its narrow veins and erratic ore shoots. In California 
the depletion is not so far advanced, but the exploitation of the large 
low-grade deposits upon which must depend the bulk of future 
production is delayed by the necessity of heavy capital expenditure. 
The general sentiment expressed by producers at the two confer¬ 
ences on tungsten held by this Commission was that capital was 
willing to assume the mining risk but hesitated to undertake the 
financing of tungsten ventures because it is not assured of a stable 
or adequate price for the product. 

An important and growing factor in the American market is the 
supply of foreign ore. The price level has always been governed 
to a large extent by the cost of importing ore from other countries. 
The fear of a great influx of cheap foreign tungsten has been the 
deterrent to the investment of the requisite capital in many of the 
low-grade deposits of the United States. 

The metallurgical treatment of tungsten ores is as efficient in the 
United States as in any country and far in advance of that in most 
other countries. While American labor is superior to that in any 
other large tungsten-producing region, it is necessarily much better 
paid. Where the output depends on a large amount of hand work 
as in mines of the Boulder County ty])e, there is no possibility of 
producing ore so cheaply in the United States as in countries of low 
wages. The main dependence, therefore, of the United States are 
the low-grade, but probably extensive, deposits of the Southwest. 
American management and equipment have demonstrated their 
superiority in mining of low-grade properties on a large scale. Given 
an adequate tonnage, iron, copper, lead, and, more recently, molyb¬ 
denum have been mined much more cheaply in the United States 
than in any other part of the world in spite of the high wages paid 
to the individual laborers. It is generally believed that there is 
an adequate supply of tungsten in these low-grade deposits, although 
it has not yet been fully demonstrated. If there is, the United 
States can hold its own against most of its competitors. The cost of 
production should not exceed greatly that of any country operating 
deep, low-grade mines. The only serious competition is the tem¬ 
porary production from surface ore, which can not be depended 
upon for a continuous supply but which does flood the market for a 
time with a disturbing effect on prices. 

While the extremely pure American ore has invariably brought 
a better price in the past than the less pure foreign ores, the differ¬ 
ential is rapidly becoming less because of the growing use of chemical 
treatment methods in place of electric furnace reduction of the crude 
concentrate. This differential is not likely ever to vanish altogether 
but it is only a small amount of protection. 

During the war, embargoes and high ocean freights and insurance 
were the chief protection of the domestic producer. In the post-war 
period, these conditions have changed materially. The countries 
from which the United States imports the most tungsten are 
countries with which there is an active desire to foster trade. Tung¬ 
sten ore may be used for a back haul cargo in place of ballast by 
vessels carrying American manufactures exported to these countries. 
Under these circumstances very low rates would doubtless be granted. 


IV. MISCELLANEOUS. 


REDUCTION OF TUNGSTEN ORE. 

The greater part of the American and other ores free from objec¬ 
tionable impurities is reduced to ferro-alloy in electric furnaces, using 
carbon and the necessary fluxing agents. When ferrotungsten was 
first used a large proportion of it was made by reduction in crucibles, 
using the ore and carbon. This process generally yields a powder 
unless the ferro-alloy is very low grade and can be easily fused. 

Impure ores can be treated by the so-called German process,^ 
which was largely used in Germany before the war. There are several 
American plants now equipped for treating ores by this method. It 
is distinctly a chemical method, involving fusion with soda ash and 
coal, leaching out the sodium tungstate thus formed, and precipi¬ 
tating nearly chemically pure tungstic acid (H 2 WO 4 ) by means of 
hydrochloric (muriatic) acid. The precipitate is dehydrated and re¬ 
duced to metal, either in a stream of hydrogen or by heating with 
carbon in crucibles. Both methods produce tungsten powder. The 
second process is the commoner for use in steel, while the reduction 
with hydrogen is employed for making extremely pure metal for 
making incandescent lamp filaments. 

To produce ductile tungsten for lamp filaments, the pure powdered 
metal is consolidated into rods under great pressure in an electric 
furnace in an atmosphere of hydrogen and at a temperature of about 
2,850° C (below the melting point of tungsten under normal pres¬ 
sure). The bar thus formed is brittle and could not be drawn into 
wire. It is made ductile by hammering and rolling, in a specially 
constructed machine, at a temperature of about 1 , 200 ° C. and still 
in an atmosphere of hydrogen. After some 50 successive treatments 
in this machine, the bar is reduced to one-sixth its former size and 
has become sufficiently ductile. The drawing is done at a high tem¬ 
perature in diamond dies. The production of the ordinary filament 
requires drawing the metal through about 100 dies, which grow suc¬ 
cessively smaller until the desired diameter is reached. 

OPINIONS OF PRODUCERS. 

Tariff hearings, 1908-1909 .—Abstract of brief by Walter M. 
Stein, president of the Primes Chemical Co., Primes, Pa., November 
17, 1908: 

‘‘The cost of producing tungsten ore in this country amounts to $8 
minimum per unit (of WO 3 per ton of 2,000 lbs.). Foreign ore com¬ 
ing in at a lower price forced American mines to shut down at certain 
periods. The tungsten ore conditions are similar all over the world, 
and the variation in costs of production depends entirely on the cost 
of labor at the mines, i. e., wages. Wages in foreign countries are 


1 For new commercial chemical method, see confidential files, U. S. Tariff Commission. 
42 





TUNGSTEN-BEAKING ORES. 


43 


lower than in the United States, as shownlby^^.the‘following data. 
Labor in ore mining represents about 60 to 65 per cent of the total 
cost of production. 

Europe: 

Portutral— 

Miners, 44 to 5G cents a day. 

Ordinary workmen, 30.4 to 36 cents a day. 

AVoinen and boys, 16 to 19.2 cents a day. 

Spain- 

One mine, 110 Avorkmen average 40 cents per day. 

Other mines, 50 tO 60 cents per day. 

Boys and women, 20 to 25 cents per day. 

Bohemia—■ 

Laborers, 35 to 45 cents per day of 10 hours. 

Miners, 75 cents per day. 

South America: 

Argentina—- 

Laborers, 20 to 25 cents per day. 

Miners, 75 cents per day. United States currency. 

United States: 

Laborers, from |2 to |2.50 per day. 

Miners, from $3 to $4.50 per day. 

Mechanics, ore-mining centers, $5 per day. 

On account of the difference in the cost of labor in the United 
States and in foreign countries, it would be but fair and reasonable 
to place a duty of 20 per cent ad valorem on tungsten ore, which is 
now on the free list.’’ (Vol. II, p. 1430.) 

Philip Bauer Co., of New York, writes relative to tungsten ores 
and concentrates, submitting a report made under date of October 
14, 1908, by Frederick H. Minard, in which data are given regarding 
production costs and prices of tungsten ore. The article advocates 
free tungsten and is devoted principally to refuting statements made 
by W. M. Stein, president of the Primes Chemical Co., who advocates 
a tariff of 20 per cent. (Vol. II, p. 1491.) 

York (Pa.) Metal & Alloy Co. submits statement relative to tung¬ 
sten and molybdenum products under date of December 31, 1908, in 
which statements made by W. M. Stein, president of the Primes 
Chemical Co., regarding the cost of production are refuted, and the 
free entry of tungsten ores is advocated. (Vol. II, p. 1493.) 

Brief of Primes Chemical Co. (1913), in reference to ferroalloys 
(abstracted): 

^^By far the greater portion of tungsten ores is produced in foreign 
countries. Through the sharp competition and low cost of production 
of the foreign ores it has not been possible to qperate the mines in 
this country continuously, as in a sagging market the value of the 
ores soon falls below the cost of production in this country. There 
is between $3,000,000 and $5,000,000 invested in tungsten mines 
in the United States, which would be able to produce about one- 
fourth of the world’s consumption, or enough to supply the entire 
domestic demand. But the world is being supplied from countries 
where wages are less than one-third of those paid in this country. 
A protest is made against the reduction of the duty provided in 
paragraph 190.” (Vol. II, p. 1704.) 

Brief of the Atolia Mining Co., in re tungsten-bearing ores, January 
2, 1913 (abstracted): 

Tungsten concentrates .—A duty of 10 per cent ad valorem is at 
present imposed on this material under the tariff act of 1909; it is 


44 


UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. 


proposed that this shall enter duty free. Tungsten ore is usually 
taken from the ground containing an average tungstic oxide content 
of not over 4 per cent. From this point it is subject to a process of 
concentration which involves labor and material. The buyers of 
tungsten concentrates require a product guaranteed to contain not 
less than 65 per cent tungstic oxide, and the cost of obtaining this 

E er ton of concentrates for the last three years’ operation of the Atolia 
as been about $306.60 per ton in labor and materials alone, exclusive 
of taxes, depreciation, amortization, and interest due on capital 
invested. It is contended it is working a hardship on the producer 
of tungsten to remove all protection on such so-called tungsten 
ore, if, at the same time, all the protection is not removed on the 
other forms in which tungsten can be imported, as it will naturally 
flow into the country by the lowest channel and defeat any hope of 
increasing the revenue, in addition to making the producer of tungsten 
concentrates bear practically the whole brunt of adjustment. It is 
urged that reduction in the tariff on tungsten ores, tool steel, tung¬ 
sten powder, and ferrotungsten be made pro rata. If it is proposed 
to place tungsten ore on the free list then it should be defined as a 
natural product not containing over 5 per cent tungstic oxide. 

'^Tungsten ore has agross content at best of about 4 per cent tungstic 
oxide, and a recoverable value with tungstic oxide at the price of $7 
per unit (1 per cent) or about $21 per ton, 25 per cent being lost 
in the process of recovery. This is a raw material and' could be 
imported free of duty without seriously affecting .any interests. On 
the other hand, tungsten ore, as marketed (65 per cent concentrates), 
costs at least $300 per ton to prepare, and should be granted as much 
protection as any other manufactured article into which labor so 
largely enters.” (H. R. Doc. No. 1447, 62d Cong., 3d sess., Vol. 
II, p. 1718.) 

Brief of Atkins, Kroll & Co., by Comstock & Washburn: The brief 
refers to court and Treasury decisions, and gives statistics of imports 
and duty collected for annual periods 1907-1911. The rest of the 
article contains practically the same information as that given in the 
brief of the Atolia Mining Co. (H. R. Doc. No. 1447, 62d Cong., 
3d sess., Vol. II, p. 1721.) 

Brief of York Metal Alloy Co., York, Pa., January 16, 1912: The 
output of tungsten ores in Colorado is practically under the control 
of one concern, so much so that during the seven years in which 
the York Co. has been in business it has never been able to purchase 
any American '‘wolframite” with the exception of one instance of 
recent date when one car of 25 tons of low-grade or^ was secured. 
Have had to depend entirely on foreign ore, and therefore the handicap 
of a 10 per cent duty works a hardship to them. (H. R. Doc. 1447, 
62d Cong., 3d sess., Vol. II, p. 1721.) 

Trade relations and the tungsten industry .—The major part of 
the imports of tungsten ore into the United States in 1916 to 
1918 was derived from South American and Far Eastern countries. 
These are the countries with which the United States has been 
attempting to foster trade. In the case of a great many of these 
nations, the exports of tungsten ore to the United States bulk 
large in the value of the international trade. The placing 


TUNGSTEN-BEARING ORES. 


45 


of a prohibitively high tariff on tungsten ore would result in the 
stopping of these exports to the United States and their transfer to 
other countries. Strong pressure ^ has been brought to bear by 
England to stop the growing trade in tungsten between Southern 
China and the United States. Whether this is merely an expression 
of the extraordinary British need of tungsten, or whether it has a 
deeper significance denoting a recognition that the tungsten trade 
may become the nucleus of broader trade relations, is a matter of 
conjecture. The fact, however, was that American importers were 
able to secure very limited supplies of south China ore because 
they have been very rarely able to secure the requisite permits from 
the British Government at Hongkong. Similar restrictions were 
placed on shipments from Siam. Speaking of the Hongkong situa¬ 
tion, Consul General George E. Anderson at that city made the fol¬ 
lowing report, dated November 9, 1917: 

Because of war respictions and other conditions, most of the ore heretofore exported 
has { 2 ^one to Great Britain, and British regulations at this time make it difficult to ship 
south China ore to the United States. It is anticipated that this state of things will 
be remedied in the course of a short time, and in the meanwhile buyers for American 
vsteel manufacturers have been investigating the south China situation and have 
organized the work of gathering the available ore to such an extent that there is almost 
a boom in the business. 

The course of the trade in Hongkong since the development of the south China 
fields commenced this year may be shown by the fact that the exports from Hongkong 
in June amounted to 60 tons, in July to 78 tons, and for the first half of August 92 
tons, permits to ship to the United States being withdrawn about the middle of 
August. There is now on hand in Canton and Hongkong warehouses perhaps 500 
tons of the ore ready for sending to the United States as soon as permission from 
the English Government covering transshipment at Hongkong can be obtained. 

The following statements of Mr. Robert H. Hepburn, 921 South 
Forty-eighth Street, Philadelphia, Pa., apply to the South American 
situation: 

The growing public realization of the importance of our trade relations with South 
America and the increasing demand that they be encouraged and developed imposes 
the duty of a careful consideration of the effects likely to follow the enactment and 
enforcement of possibly prohibitory trade legislation, and this applies especially to 
the importation of tungsten from Bolivia. 

Bolivia is primarily dependent on tin and tungsten exports, and if we purpose 
establishing a permanent interchange of commodities with, this country, this circum¬ 
stance must be recognized. * * * 

A slightly varying price (for tungsten) per unit—say $24 to $26, reasonably stabilized 
figures—would be ideal if practical and would enable producers and users to make 
definite calculations. * * * 

Bolivian tungsten and tin can be sold readily in Europe with the natural conse¬ 
quence of imports following therefrom, but should we contribute to such a result, and 
in its effect blanket this and other trade relations with South American countries? 

* * *. It seems to me that the importation of tungsten and tin ores from Bolivia 
would be the very best protection of the Government against excess prices and still 
give generous profits to our mines and miners. 

A market price of $24 to $26 per unit for tungsten would give only a fair profit to 
most of the miners in Bolivia, who pay for transportation from mine to railroad, over 
railroad to point of shipment, lighterage to vessel, freight to port of destination, 
insurance, etc., and to all these charges is added—owing to lack of American banking 
facilities—the cost of cabling moneys back for operating, etc., expenses. All this is 
certainly a right large protection for our own producers. 

Should a market price of $28 to $30 per unit be allowed for tungsten concentrates, 
then a duty of $2 to $4 per unit could be paid by Bolivian miners and still send us 
ore. 


1 See confidential file, and Reports of Conference at San Francisco. 



46 UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION REPORT. 

The above excerpts are from correspondence in reference to the 
war minerals bill and dated in the spring and early summer of 1918. 
(Copies of this correspondence are in the files of this commission.) 

Another phase of the Bolivian tungsten situation is its complica¬ 
tion with shipments of tin. Bolivia is the one source of supply for 
the tin smelting industry that has lately developed in the United 
States. Tin is as essential a commodity as tungsten and this country 
is barren of producing mines. Although it is the largest consumer 
in the world, the United States must rel;f wholly on foreign countries 
for its tin. There is active competition with foreign countries, 
especially England, for tin supplies, and as tin and tungsten are 
generally found together, a cessation of tungsten shipments may so 
prejudice foreign miners that they will also divert their tin ores to 
Europe. 

Additional statements of producers have been abstracted for the 
T. I. C. unit on ferrotungsten (p. 15, No. 10). Many of these refer 
to tungsten ore and should be consulted in connection with the 
foregoing. 

MINING LABOR CONDITIONS IN PORTUGAL.^ 

There is no class of labor in Portugal corresponding to the miners 
and mill men of America. All the workmen own small farms and 
only work in the mines when not engaged in harvesting. Carpenters, 
blacksmiths, tinsmiths, etc., turn out creditable work considering 
the tools they use, but they are not amenable to the introduction of 
modern tools or improved methods. Portuguese laborers’ wages are 
low in comparison to those paid in the United States, as shown in 
table, but the fact that mechanical appliances operate better and 
at lower cost than any Portuguese hand labor must always be borne 
in mind. 

Under proper supervision, and with the same mechanical equip¬ 
ment used in the United States, operating costs should be much less, 
on account of the low wages, but the substitution of hand methods, 
no matter how low the wages, for any mechanical appliance in Por¬ 
tugal, invariably results in higher costs and inferior grade of product. 

Typical Portuguese mine wage scale, July, 1914. 


Topographical engineer, per month. $49. 00 

Local superintendent, per month. $35. 00- 105. 00 

Portuguese engineer, per month. 56. 00 - 70. 00 

Bookkeeper, per month. 28.00- 42.00 

Mill captain, per day. .70 

Mine captain, per day. ,63 

Guard, per day. .63 

Miners, per day.28- . 47 

Trammers, per day. .25 

Helper, per day. 11 - .14 

Blacksmith, per day. .35 

Carpenter, per day. .-19 

Women, per day.14- . 21 

Pack mule and driver, per day. .70 

Bull cart and driver, per day. 1. 40 


1 Digest from an article entitled “The Mineral Industry in Portugal.” Foote and Ransom. Eng. Min 
Jour. 106 (1918), pp. 47-52. 



















TUNC.STEN-BEAEING OKES. 


47 


The peasant or farmer class of Portuguese * * * is by nature 

slow, methodical, stupid and conscientious. The people are slow to 
learn anything new, and if it involves a change in the mode of opera¬ 
tion from that to which they are accustomed, it is almost an impossible 
undertaking. * natives also have a perverted inventive 

sense which prompts them to adjust engines and machinery, so that 
they can not run. Practically all the work in the mills is done by 
women. For the most part the women are better workers than the 
men and easier instructed. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Commerce and Navigation. By United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic 
Commerce. 

Mineral Resources of the United States. By United States Geological Survey. 

The Mineral Industry. By G. A. Rousch. 

Tungsten Minerals and Deposits. United States Geological Survey Bulletin 652 
(1917). 

ASSOCIATIONS, ESTABLISHMENTS, IMPORTERS, EXPORTERS, TRADE 

JOURNALS, DIRECTORIES. 

Engineering and Mining Journal. 

Iron Trade Review. 

Iron Age. 

Mining and Scientific Press. 

A large mailing list of tungsten producers and consumers was 
obtained from the United States Geological Survey (Mr. Frank L. 
Hess) preliminary to the conferences held by the United States 
Tariff Commission in Denver and San Francisco. A similar list can 
be obtained at any time. The uncertain condition of the industry 
is causing rapid changes in the names and a considerable percentage 
of former operators and buyers have gone out of the business and 
many others now engaged in the tungsten business may be expected 
to drop out in the near future. Since a practically complete and 
up-to-date list is always available on application to the Survey, 
none is given on this page. 


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